Do More Than Just Exist
by Sessediz
Summary: Vampire/Wicca/Werewolf fanfic based in Rio, Brazil / Serena decides to study abroad for a little bit of adventure in her life. While touring she finds out more about herself and the hidden world around her than any of her classics professors could have ever taught. Rated M for language, war and romance.
1. Chapter One

**This Sailor Moon story is set in an alternate universe with some of my own original characters. Sailor Moon and the cast belong to the magnificent Naoko Takeuchi.**

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 **If you enjoy vampires, Wiccan tales or fancy some werewolves, this story might just be for you!**

 **This story is going to be edgier with more grunge and Old World styles, though set in our modern times. Takes place in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Reviews are a must for this story to continue. Please comment on each chapter – positive and negative reviews appreciated!**

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 **Serena Whelan:**

 _I can't believe this is actually happening!_ I almost squealed to myself as I placed my carry-on bag in the overhead compartment.

My mother had been against the idea of me going off to study in another country but my first semester at Melvaine University just didn't click well with me. The hope is that studying abroad in Rio will give me the adventure I've been craving.

It's not that I didn't like college, I did; studying the great works and historical findings from the ancient world got me more excited than eating a deep-fried hotdog with chocolate at the All-ee-Days Fair. _Perhaps I'm more of a quarter system girl?_ The problem was that I was too adventurous for my own good health. My body craved it and many sleepless nights were contributing to this opportunity.

Who knows? Maybe I'll transfer here to finish out my undergrad.

The last plane ride was short, only thirty minutes or so. As was well until I felt a strong kick in the back of my seat as the pilot flipped on the seatbelt sign. I turned around quickly to see an eight-year-old boy grinning widely. I nodded slightly as I turned back into my seat.

There was another kick. This time I whipped my head around and sternly said, "Knock it off, will ya?" The kid started to whine and his mother began to coddle him.

"Mind your manners, Miss."

"Tell your son that," I cursed under my breath. As the mother patted his head softly I saw him smile up at me again, _why you little…_

"Flight attendants please prepare for landing," the pilot said over the intercom. I fastened the seatbelt and grabbed my scarf from the empty seat next to me.

The plane landed and everyone began grabbing their items to head for the terminal. I tried to ignore the little boy who kept pestering me. He made noises, pulled on my scarf and kept touching the tags on my bag.

When I reached the main area of the airport I turned on my phone to look up the address of my apartment and suddenly felt something brush up against me. Without a moment missed, I turned around to scold the little child.

"Now listen here you little—," I was staring at the hands of a man who had just been walking by.

"My apologies, Miss."

My face turned beet red and I covered my mouth in embarrassment as I stood up straight, "No, I am so _so_ sorry. You see, there was someone here before," I looked quickly to my left and my right without the mother nor child in sight. My eyes fixed on the man again. His hair was a little shaggy with the dark black tips framing his eyes and ears. I noticed that his eyes were a bright hazel color with flecks of red.

 _How is that possible?_ I squinted my eyes to determine if that was really the color I was seeing when I noticed the pupil grow larger. "Are you alright?"

The mystery man coolly brushed off the concern and placed on a black pair of sunglasses with dark lenses. "I am. And are you?" He knelt down to pick up my scarf which I had dropped. His hand came in contact with mine and it felt cool. The sensation sent a surge through my spine.

"I—I am…" I trailed off, grinning. He smirked and looked towards the entrance of the airport.

"Well, I hope you have a fantastic rest of the day, Miss ….?"

"Whelan. Serena Whelan." The man seemed to stand firm and I could have sworn I saw his eyes glow beneath the dark frames.

"Darien Rothschild," he reached out his hand. After looking at it for a moment I realized he was requesting for my own hand. I placed it in his which he brought up to his lips. The cool kiss caused a similar feeling to the sensation from before. "I do hope we meet again, Miss Whelan." I bobbed my head as he picked up his bag and headed for the exit.

I couldn't move for the longest time. My legs seemed stilled without cause as I thought about the man I had just met. _Darien Rothschild._ His attire was mostly dark, with black and some red trimmings. Darien towered over me by at least a foot and his facial features seemed chiseled and clean cut.

 _I need to find a man like that before departing this country._

 **Darien Rothschild:**

"Whelan?" I threw open the front doors of the manor before Andrew could reach for them. "How could such a divine beauty be a descendant of the lycanthrope?" My bags found their way on the sofa in my study as I sat by the window with the sunlight beaming in.

"Darien, are you alright?"

"Why does everyone keep asking that!" I hollered as I saw Andrew stunned by my response. "I need a drink, Andrew." He nodded quickly and went to the cupboard.

I covered my eyes with my left hand as I awaited the glass to be nestled in my other. _Her hair, those eyes, how can it be?_

"How was the trip?"

Andrew sat on the sofa with his own drink. "I couldn't find it," Andrew scoffed, "Maybe it doesn't even exist, Drew."

"It has to. My brother himself saw the signs." Andrew grew quiet at his own mention of Thomas.

"I know."

Andrew walked over to the window and gently wrapped his free arm around me, whispering into my ear, "Now, there was a girl?" I grinned devilishly and turned to face him.

"The most beautiful; her hair shown a bright white shade and her skin, oh Andrew, her skin…"

"Natural?"

"A natural olive tone," Andrew pumped his fist, "We don't get much of that here."

"No we don't." He threw back the last of his drink, "I had another one with a spray-on last night." He stuck out his tongue.

I chuckled for a moment before my thoughts resurfaced, "Andrew, she's a Whelan."

"No…" He shook his head gently.

"She is."

"Perhaps she's married in?"

"No ring, besides, she was too young for that."

Andrew grinned again, his teeth barring, "Do you think she's aware of her heritage?" I shook my head, "Hmm, never had wolf kebabs. Always wanted to try them."

"She is off-limits, Drew," he pretended to whimper, "I don't want you getting hurt." And besides, the girl had held my intrigue. Ever since I saw her get on my final flight home, she had enthralled my attention and I was eager to see the beauty once again.

I looked down at the torn tag in my hand: _Universidade do Estado de Rio de Janiero_ , _Serenity Whelan_ _._

 _I hope to meet you again, Miss Whelan._


	2. Chapter Two

**This Sailor Moon story is set in an alternate universe with some of my own original characters. Sailor Moon and the cast belong to the magnificent Naoko Takeuchi.**

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 **TropicalRemix: To clarify, he took her tag, not the full bag. Thanks for your review!**

 **Xpandachuy: Thank you for your review – tell me what you think of this chapter :)**

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 **Serena Whelan:**

"Whelan, Serenity," I recited at the registration desk the following morning. The curly-haired redhead rolled her eyes as she shifted through her folders until finding mine. "Thank you," I said mildly sarcastically.

Last night was my first night in Rio de Janiero. I was supposed to have a roommate but I guess she just hadn't of shown up yet. _Where's Madison Hall?_ My apartment was old but full of history and art. The walls were stucco but the ceiling had magnificent amber crown molding. I was falling in love with Rio at every turn.

"Whoa!" I shouted as I came face to chest with a stranger. I looked up to see Darien Rothschild once again. "Darien? What are you doing here?" _How come I never just meet this guy normally?_

"Hello again, Miss Whelan," Darien tilted his head to the side, "Lost are we?"

I glanced down at the now crumpled map of my university and smiled up at him, "Are you a student here? Do you happen to know where this class is?" I asked pointing to my class schedule.

"I do, actually, but I am afraid I do not attend school here. I teach."

"Oh?" _Oh, well now he's off-limits. Or are the rules different around here?_ "What do you teach?"

"Classics."

My eyes grew wide, "Are you kidding me?"

"I am not kidding you, Miss Whelan. I do teach Classics here."

"That's my study, that's part of why I came down here to this university," I stretched out my arm to show off the surrounding area. "Also, I met Profesora Castell at a conference last June and I'm really excited to be in her folklore class."

"Well, that is wonderful."

"What class do you teach?"

Darien's eyes drifted downward for a moment before they shot up once again, "Ancient Art and Archaeology." My brow furrowed as I looked at my schedule to see the very class listed.

"Aw, I'm taking that with Dr. Michaelson."

"Well, actually, Dr. Michaelson decided to take a last minute sabbatical. I am teaching that course for him." Darien grinned with his eyes and suddenly his cool personality seemed distance and turned.

"Oh. Alright," I shrugged. "I have to get to class." I smiled slightly and turned for the other side of campus.

"Didn't you want help finding your class?" he called after me. I tried to nicely yell 'no' as I continued on the hopefully correct path to Profesora Castell's class."

 **Darien Rothschild:**

"I am telling you the truth; she gave me an odd look."

"Maybe she got nervous. I like making them nervous first," Andrew winked at a few girls as we walked down the hallway. He bit into his red apple.

"No, it was different than that. I think she knows what I am," Andrew glanced at me, "She must be aware of it. No other has resisted my charm." Andrew scoffed as he turned to the _Artes Liberales_ department.

"Maybe she has a boyfriend and felt guilty for ogling you," he grabbed a candy from the front desk, "It happens."

"Can I help you, gentlemen?" said a woman with a beaded chain connected to her glasses.

"Yes, I am the replacement for Dr. Michaelson."

"I just saw Dr. Michaelson. Did you need to speak with him?"

"Already have," I walked closer to the middle-aged woman, "Dr. Michaelson has run off with the maid again. Shouldn't expect him back for at least a few months, but not to worry, Darien Rothschild is here." The lady smiled liked a giddy teenager as she gathered some papers together.

"Then I suspect you will be needing these," Mabel, as her nametag read, handed me three texts and a binder of papers, "Dr. Michaelson just sent for them, these are the texts for the quarter."

I looked sideways to Andrew who was trying to hold in his laughter, "Thank you, Mabel."

Once we were back on our way Andrew couldn't hold it in any longer, "Looks to be your longest investment in a meal to this date!"

"Quiet, Drew. I have studied this field ever since my father sent me to boarding school. Besides, I am the professor now; I get to create the curriculum."

"Have fun!" Andrew chucked the apple core into the dumpster and began down the other end of the hallway.

"Where are you going?"

"To get registered; I have to see this in person," Andrew chuckled.

 **Serena Whelan:**

"So read pages 43 through 98 by Wednesday," Profesora Castell announced as the class stood up almost instantly; everyone eager for their next class. I wrote down the assignment in my agenda when something hit my arm.

"I am _so_ sorry!" a brunette-haired girl said as she rested her hand on my forearm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's no biggie," I started to gather my belongings.

"Are you from America?" I nodded, "That's awesome! Another exchange student!"

I smiled instinctively, "You're from America too?"

"Nah, England. But it's like the same thing," she said with a now recognizable accent.

I slowly nodded, "Um, yeah."

"So I was kinda snooping on your schedule… I see that you also have Ancient Art and Archaeology with Dr. Michaelson next."

"I do, but he's not the instructor. I actually met the new instructor this morning."

We began walking from the lecture hall to the next class, "That's odd. I met him yesterday and told him I was taking his class. He said he would be glad to see me there."

"Huh, well, the new instructor _did_ say it was a last minute change."

The new girl finally introduced herself to me after about a minute of yammering. Her name was Lita and she was studying in Rio just like me but was currently undeclared. We talked about the class we had just been in and how excited we were to get started on the research assignment the professor had planned.

Just as we reached the next building, I noticed a storm starting to roll in. _Great, my umbrella is in Nebraska._ I beamed at my own joke as I headed in for the class. It was a more intimate setting with only twenty or twenty-five seats available for students.

Lita stopped abruptly and nudged me, "Is that the guy? You didn't tell me he was drop-dead gorgeous." I looked up and couldn't agree with her more. Well, I could. Yesterday the man had overwhelmed my thoughts. Today I got the weirdest feeling from him.

His eyes followed me as we found our seats. I brushed my long white-blonde hair off my shoulder as I pulled out an unused notebook. Darien waited for all of the students to file in and began going over the syllabus.

About halfway through another student with short, dirty blonde hair walked in, "My apologies for the lateness, Profesor Rothschild." The young man walked with even steps to the remaining seat in the classroom; the open seat just to my right.

"Share with a student next to you," Darien said as he continued going over the syllabus. The late student was also very handsome and I began to wonder if there was something magical in the Rio water.

"My name is Drew."

"Serena."

"May I look off of your syllabus?" he asked sweetly. I nodded and pushed the paper halfway in between us. "Thanks, doll." I took a deep breath and looked over at Lita who looked like she was about to pass out from star-struck fever.

Drew's eyes moved over the sheet quickly and I tried to focus on the course requirements, but when I glanced to my side I caught him looking at me. My heart pounded in my chest as his emerald green eyes stared into mine. _I've never seen someone so—_ I paused when I noticed a familiar shade in the mixture of Drew's iris colors.

He blinked quickly and returned his gaze to the syllabus as Darien announced his office hours. "I trust that you all have picked up your copy of _Patterns in Prehistory_?" He said as he made his way back to his desk, holding up his personal copy complete with colored flags.

We all pulled out our copies of the text and followed along with him for the intro paragraph. "Now, that was a bit boring, wasn't it?" The class chuckled, "Well, that's alright. This class is going to be a little bit different this quarter. I expect hard work and proof of such. I don't accept slackers and reading fifty pages a night won't get you through this class, do I make myself clear?"

Some students replied unified with a 'yes' while the rest of us simply nodded. "Good, I want you to break off into groups and create your own description of one of the priceless arts found on page 73 through 77 as if you were working for the British Museum. You have until the end of class."

Lita and I turned to each other immediately and began working. Drew tapped on my shoulder and asked if he could join us, "Sure!" Lita answered right away. The assignment wasn't too hard, but it was difficult to tell how detailed Darien wanted us to be.

"We should put the circa dates for the piece," Drew added.

"Good thinking," Lita said, "And the region the piece is originally from."

The piece we chose was a vase depicting Dionysus and two maenads. It was currently located in France but it was one of the ancient artworks I was hoping to see one day.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" I heard a voice but could not find a source of it.

"Are you alright?" Drew asked.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine."

After class was over, Lita and I walked out to the quad for lunch. I spun around when I heard Drew calling my name, "Serena, you forgot your agenda!" I reached out for the planner and abruptly turned to Lita. She widened her eyes and kept the same stance.

I looked back around, "Thank you, Drew."

"No problem. See you tomorrow night," he said before jogging away. I looked to Lita who shrugged. We continued on for lunch and afterwards I decided to head back to my apartment. When I got there I heard loud music coming from my floor and it got louder as I reached 22C.

"Hello?" I said as I entered the apartment. "Is this Mina?"

"Oh, hey!" a bubbly blonde said as she bounced into the kitchen in just a tight t-shirt and boy-style underwear. "You must be Serenity!"

"Just call me Serena," I grinned nervously. _Is this girl a party animal or just experimenting?_

"Oooh neat! Serena and Mina, we're like twins!" she wrapped me in a big hug. To be fair, we did look a lot alike. Her hair was also blonde at about waist-length and her skin was a little darker than most of the people back in my hometown.

I managed to get her out of my way when one of the next door guys came over to complain about the noise. He shut right up when he got to the doorway and saw the state my new roommate was in.

"Hi."

"Hey," she grinned, "Wanna come over later? We're having a par-tay!"

The guy couldn't have looked happier, "I'm down. What time?" Mina looked over at me and awaited a response, one I would not give her.

"Nine."

I rolled my eyes as I went to my bedroom and closed the door. _If she's having a party that late I better start studying now_. After opening my folklore text I tried to remember what page numbers she had assigned. _Where's that stupid agenda?_

When I flipped to the current week's page I saw that Tuesday at 8 p.m. was now blocked out with the name "Drew" and a heart written in the box. _So that's what he meant._ I guess getting a date on the first day of classes wasn't so bad… Plus, Drew _was_ very easy on the eyes.

Maybe it was because I could hear Mina getting the house ready for our impromptu party or perhaps it was just my newfound freedom in Rio, but I could already see myself giving it up for Drew; and pretty quickly I might add.

I had never been the girl to sleep with a guy she wasn't serious with, but this was a whole 'nother country. _What could happen here?_


	3. Chapter Three

**This Sailor Moon story is set in an alternate universe with some of my own original characters. Sailor Moon and the cast belong to the magnificent Naoko Takeuchi.**

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 **Chaoticwisdom: Thank you for your review! Please let me know what you think of this update :)**

 **Note: I decided to make the university in Rio on the quarter system (not semester) as it flowed better with the story. You can see the changes reflected in the previous chapters. The university named _is_ a real university but the curriculum, classes, etc are all just for story purposes. Nothing said about the university reflects the real standing one.**

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 **Serena Whelan:**

The next morning I found the apartment in more shambles than I remember going to bed with, "Mina? Mina didn't you say you have a nine o'clock today!" I said as I walked into the living room. Mina was nowhere to be found but on the apartment-given couch was a girl with extremely pale skin and long raven hair all tousled around the throw pillows.

I walked up to the girl who smelled of beer and melon-scented perfume, "Hello?" The girl stirred and stretched before opening her eyes, "Hi, I'm Serena."

"Raye," she yawned, "Raye Volkov." I nodded and began walking around the apartment to tidy up. "Mina already left, by the way. She's been gone since 2 a.m."

"Where'd she go?" Raye raised an eyebrow and I nodded, "I get cha."

Raye sat up and stretched her arms out again. Her pale skin gleamed in the sunlight and I got a weird feeling from seeing her. Something seemed off about her presence, maybe even scary.

"Do you go to the university?"

Raye stood up, "Yes but I'm currently doing an internship with a local marketing company. Is this your first quarter here?"

I nodded, "And hopefully one of many to come. I'm an exchange student from Nebraska."

She smiled, "Russia. St. Petersburg."

I walked Raye to her apartment down the hall and we talked about our studies and exchanged numbers before I headed to class for the day. Tuesdays and Thursdays were my busy days so having to sit through three lectures got me pretty beat. By the time I reached home I fell on the couch and went fast to sleep.

 **Darien Rothschild:**

"When did you ask Serena to go on a date?" I paced around the room hurriedly.

"I didn't _really_ ask…" Andrew smiled.

I stopped and glared at him, "I can't believe you charmed her." _It already felt like an unfair advantage over a person, at times, but for him to use it on the girl who was beginning to hold my interest urghed me._ "You take a beautiful woman like her and you just—," I trailed off.

"Listen, I just gave her a note saying that I would pick her up today at eight. That's all," Andrew dipped two fingers into a small tub of gel and ran them through his hair, "By the way, do you know where she lives?"

I shook my head as I admired the blond spikey 'do he had created, "You set up a date without establishing a meeting point? Amateur."

Andrew paused and glanced in the mirror, "I think I can sniff out the little lycan." He grinned before turning towards the door, grabbing his jacket on his way out, "Don't wait up."

I didn't wait up. I watched as Andrew bounded into the orange McLaren and pulled out on the large gravel driveway. Following him closely, I watched as he made his way to the university and began sniffing out Serena Whelan. He picked up on the same strong scent that I had detected near an older building; no doubt still alive with various college parties throughout each week.

Our kind doesn't leave a scent, at least not to our knowledge. The only way Andrew could know I was following him would be if I slipped up or he used common sense; _Of course I would spy on your date with Serena._

He walked up the first set of steps to the complex. Luckily, the doors were all pointed outside which made it easier to track the exact location of the scent. Andrew walked up to room 28C and knocked excitedly.

The door creaked open, "Hello?"

"Good evening, ma'am, I am looking for Serena Whelan," he almost bowed, "We have a date tonight; is this the correct apartment?" He gazed into the eyes of the beauty and almost looked at her as if to consider ditching his date with Serena.

"Hold on a sec—," she turned from the door, "Hey, doesn't Serena and Mina live down the hallway?"

"Wha—? Yeah, 22," another voice called out.

"Serena's in room 22 on this floor," the young lady gestured down the hall, "Have fun on your date."

 _Are there two lycanthropes on the campus? Nay, in this complex?_ I honestly couldn't believe it myself but Andrew had sensed the same as I had. _This woman with short blue hair is another of her kind_.

I watched as he walked to the correct apartment and knocked once again; a different girl with just as long of blonde hair as Serena answered and told him that Serena was sleeping. Just as those words left her mouth we all noticed a crash sound and a "Just a minute!" was shouted from beyond the door.

And it almost was a minute; before even much time had passed she was outside with a pink sundress on and a leather jacket. White strappy heels were tied at the ankles and her hair was in a high ponytail.

"I am _so_ sorry. I feel asleep and completely forgot….about the date you scheduled with me backhandedly," she cocked her head to the side as she recalled that she never had agreed to this date.

Andrew seemed stiff and without a response. Serena stood there and awaited, "I thought it was rather suave," he reached for her hand and placed a small kiss on the back, "Miss Whelan." Suddenly she seemed like putty in his hands and hastily waved goodbye to her roommate. They were now off on their first date.

 _This sucks. I shouldn't be here snooping, and not because of the act but because the act is required when a supposed 'friend' disrespects you in such a way._

Andrew opened the car door for Serena and drove off to a large park. It was a beautiful light-up walkway with a fountain, plenty of sitting areas and a few food trucks still open. A couple of hours passed by as they talked and talked about antiquities and history, all the while eating once perfectly good food that was deep fried and covered in chocolate sauce.

I was beginning to give up; _Maybe he won't try anything. They do seem to be hitting it off well. Perhaps he really likes her._

"I need a drink," I whispered to myself as I realized I hadn't of had much of anything to eat that day. _Stupid scheme; who would ever want to teach so many classes at a university?_ Dusting off my pants, I stood up from the edge of the fountain and began to walk away. I picked up on a smacking sound from afar and turned back to see the two of them kissing. _Get a room._

It was then that I saw Andrew trail his kiss down her jawline and to her neck. _No…_ My feet stood still and I felt like running to save her. Or perhaps save him. _If she does know about her heritage and discovers Andrew's secret, he will surely pay the price; and myself after him._ That's when I detected a most peculiar sound.

There was a hasty run through the park, with snarling and the gasping of other park walkers. I lunged to protect Andrew from danger but the creature leaped from behind the bushes, over my head and continued pushing in their direction. "Andrew!" I hollered.

He looked up just as the creature charged into him, knocking him off of the bench and onto the ground. "Oh my god!" Serena cried out, falling to the ground as well.

The beast hovered over Andrew with each inhale and exhale causing Andrew more caution. Not much is known about the lycans or where they originate from; certain families are already known to possess the gene but their weaknesses were a mystery just as were their dangers to vampires. _Are they that much of a cause for alarm?_

Serena cried out from the other side of the park bench and the wolf turned its attention to her. The creature sniffed her body a few times before nodding to her as if to display communication. Turning back to Andrew, the wolf picked up one of its paws and slowly drug it down his left arm; Andrew crying out in pain.

Witnesses began taking photos of the incident on their cellular devices before the beast made a run for it.

Serena tried tending to Andrew as others offered their help; _He'll make an excuse that he can get to the hospital himself so that he can rush home. He cannot know that I did not prevent the attack from taking place._


	4. Chapter Four

**This Sailor Moon story is set in an alternate universe with some of my own original characters. Sailor Moon and the cast belong to the magnificent Naoko Takeuchi.**

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 **Chaoticwisdom: Raye just crashed there after the party. Thanks!**

 **Loveinthebattlefield: Thank you for your review!**

 **Mysticbutterfly: Thank you for your review and we'll have to see :)**

 **Note: I know that my chapters tend to be short but often times it just fits with the pacing although I will occasionally have a super long chapter (again, so long as it makes sense to have with the current storyline). It's been a long while since I updated (last semester of college and also planning a wedding) but I hope to update a little more often now! Enjoy! :D**

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 **Serena Whelan:**

"I'm telling you, Lita, it was like this giant wolf or something," I kept poking at my salad with my fork. "It was all very odd… Like a horror film."

Lita looked to the other students and couples at the café before leaning in, "Are you certain it was a wolf?" Eager to keep the conversation going I leaned in as well and nodded. "Serena, can I trust you?"

"Trust me? Well, of course."

"No, like trust-trust. The kind of trust that takes years to build," Lita smiled at a passerby, "The kind of trust we don't have time to build." I furrowed my brow and leaned in further nodding once again. "Alright, this is going to sound totally crazy but I've been looking into witchcraft recently and I think I read a book with the kind of stuff you've been talking about."

"Witchcraft?" I said almost too loud. I looked to the other people at the café who were mostly involved in their own private conversations. "You mean like, real witches. Salem and stuff?"

"That's where your ancestors burned the women accused of being witches, right?"

"Well, not necessarily my ancestors. My family comes from Europe originally," I smiled hoping she would see another connection between us and I could gain some more of her trust. "My mother signed up for this thing and it showed us our history."

"What part of Europe?"

"Ireland mostly. Guess that means I can really start celebrating St. Patty's Day now," my smile faded as Lita pondered. "What?"

"You said the wolf nodded towards you?"

I sat my glass down, "Yeah, it was the weirdest thing but it made me feel, I dunno, somehow calm or something?"

Lita took the final bite of her noodle dish and reached for her bag, "I have an idea."

We stopped by Lita's apartment for her to grab some of these witchcraft books she'd started reading and headed for my apartment. When we got there we made sure that Mina wasn't around and closed my bedroom door.

"A spell? You think we should do a spell?" I almost shouted. Maybe the walls of this old building are thick enough to repress sound.

"Mm-hmm, I've tried a few small ones."

I raised my eyebrow, "Have they worked?"

"Not really, but the directions in this one are clear. We'll need a hair from the wolf, two blue candles, a white candle and a bowl with rosehip water."

"I don't even know what that is," Lita held up a discolored bottle of Voss water. "And the candles?"

"Don't you have candles?"

"I have Seashell Dreams and Caribbean Waves but they aren't the same blue."

"And white?"

I sighed, "White Chocolate Passion." Lita winked at me as she placed a bowl down on the ground and the three candles surrounding it. I watched as she loosened the lid on the Voss water and poured a small amount into the bowl.

"Now, what were you wearing last night? Is there any hairs on it?"

I turned to see a small pile on clothes on the pink carpet of my bedroom and searched for wolf hairs. _Wolf hairs? Is this what my study of folklore has come to? Witchcraft._

"Here. I have three," I scooted back over to the weird mystical setup that Lita had created.

"Good, that gives us three tries," Lita took one of the hairs, placed it in the bowl of rosehip water and lit each of the candles with her lighter. "Alright now I have to say this incantation while placing my hand over the bowl."

"That's it? What'll happen then?"

"It says that if it was an actual werewolf then the water will turn black. If not, then it will turn clear." I nodded and waited for Lita to ready herself. She placed her hand over the bowl just as she said she would and began to read from the book that she had on loan for another two weeks from the school's library. "I beseech you, goddess of the moon, I seek an answer. Be this hair lycanthrope of the celestial scope or just a panther?"

The water began to bubble and the candles were blown out. We both looked at each other before leaning over the bowl to see the same pink liquid with a hair floating in it.

"Oh geez, it didn't work."

"Didn't think it would, Tupac," Lita glared at me, "I'm sorry but 'panther'?" She kind of chuckled at that.

"Yeah, maybe this book is no good."

"Why not try to write your own? If it just needs to rhyme I'm sure you could do that." Lita grabbed her notebook and began scribbling down words. She crossed out a few and even crossed out a whole line but five minutes later she had a new incantation. Though she had seemed eager about it before, she now seemed doubtful. "What is it?"

"I don't know. Why don't you try it?" I shrugged and traded places with her. Since nothing happened to the first bowl we just kept it the same and relit the candles. Lita nodded to me and I took a deep breath.

"Elements of the Moon to the Earth, we call upon you. Please grant us this vision to cease out indecision. If this hair be of lycan and not a scam, please show us the answer we seek."

This time the flame of the candles flew up in the air and the water formed rings, almost as if to react from a vibration. I shifted away to keep from being singed when I noticed the water start to change.

"Do you see—"

Lita nodded as we both held onto each other. As the flames died down we looked at each other and said in unison, "It was a werewolf."

 **Darien Rothschild:**

"I guess that solves the question," I poured a scotch at Drew's request.

"And what question is that?"

"If a werewolf bite is poisonous," I took a swig of the drink just as I turned towards his direction, "And if werewolves were still a common creature on this Earth."

"That was my drink, Darien."

"That was my girl."

"Fine, you win. I won't ask her on another date."

"Oh, I doubt she'd say yes," Drew looked at me bewildered, "A werewolf attacked, practically tried to communicate with her. You don't think she's going to start searching for answers?"

"I was sort of hoping she'd remain ignorant of it all. Her family certainly kept her in the dark."

I paced over towards the bookshelf, "They themselves might not know. Besides, if she activates her werewolf side she does still pose a danger. Werewolves are huge and they could knock your head clean off."

"Then why didn't that one last night?"

"I think it was a warning. I think that whoever that wolf is in human form knows that Serena is a lost wolf without a pack. If anyone convinces her to activate the gene," I took another swig, "It'd be them."


	5. Chapter Five

**This Sailor Moon story is set in an alternate universe with some of my own original characters. Sailor Moon and the cast belong to the magnificent Naoko Takeuchi.**

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 **My apologies for the delay (on all of my stories)! It's been a busy last six months with finishing my degree, getting married, moving, not having Wi-Fi, etcetera. But don't give up hope, I plan to get back to my writing and this will be just one of many updates to come. Please review :)**

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 **Songspiration for this chapter: "Kraka" by Valravn and "Voluspa" by Duivelspack.**

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 **Serena Whelan:**

"I'm sorry, Lita. I—I don't have time today," I looked over at a group of guys who were checking me out like a porterhouse on a stick. "I, uh, I have a test in Castell's class."

Lita's voice echoed through the phone, "We have that class together, Serena. The test isn't for another week." She paused for a moment and it sounded like someone else was whispering something to her, "Listen, we need to talk about what happened the other day."

I set my books down on the stone railing, " _Nothing_ happened the other day," the group of guys were nudging one guy in particular, "Sorry, I have to go." Lita protested as I ended the phone call and grabbed my belongings once again.

I was on my way to the university library for the third time since that incident with the candles and weird rosey-water when a guy with dark sideburns and styled-back wavy hair came up to me. "Need a hand with those?" I glanced down to see the title of the book atop the stack: Witchcraft in the Modern World.

"No, no that's fine. I was just on my way to the library to return these."

He looked back to his friends, "Well, I just to happen to be heading there myself." His smile was warm and very inviting. If not for the books I was carrying I might have nervous to be given such a smile instead of embarrassed by my texts. As we began our trek he opened with introductions, "My name is Shiloh. I moved here three years ago with my sister." Shiloh had about three inches on me and I noticed a bit of facial hair on his chin.

"Serena."

"It's nice to meet you. How long will you be attending here?"

"I am only here on a semester-long study abroad trip," his eyes looked immediately saddened, "But I love it so much, I want to stay longer."

Shiloh nodded, "Our homeland isn't the safest place to be right now so our parents forced our hand when deciding where to attend our further study."

"My mother begged me not to go. She'd prefer to keep an eye on me through each month." He chuckled. "What?" I asked.

"That's a good one." I looked at him confused. "Oh, um, never mind then."

We reached the front desk at the circulation center and I handed the books to the attending librarian. "Witchcraft, huh?" Shiloh asked intrigued.

I struggled to come up with an answer, "Uh, I study Classics… which includes folklore." I nodded uncomfortably and the librarian scanned the texts in.

"Ms. Whelan, you have another book available on hold. I'll be just a moment." _Great, another witchcraft book to explain to this cute guy._ I turned back towards him to see him in awe; hesitant to my every move.

"Is something the matter?" Shiloh was now at a struggle to find his own words. "Shiloh?"

The librarian returned with a book on the history of vampires and their origins. I gave her my card so that I could free myself of the situation but when I looked back he was gone.

 **Shiloh Volkov:**

"She's a Whelan descendant? How could you not tell me, Raye?" I tossed my backpack onto the sofa.

"Not my fault you couldn't detect it. And it's not like I did it on purpose. I was drunk when I found out the first time and didn't actually figure it out until that _leech_ came by here the other night."

"I'm _right_ here," Ami flipped the page in her magazine without looking up. Raye giggled to herself.

I walked up to Ami, "And _what_ are you still doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she lowered her magazine, "I believe you live in building E."

"Yeah, well, my parents pay for this place."

"Just as they do for the apartment on the third floor of building E."

I balled up my fists trying to resist the urge. Ami clicked her tongue as she shook her head, taunting me.

Raye spoke up, "Shiloh, Ami and I have put away our differences for some time now. Why can't you?"

"Because," I hurried over to the kitchen sink to splash water on my face, "Because she should be loyal to her own. Our kind have never gotten along, how can it be different with you two?"

"Because I don't care for vampire politics," Ami answered.

Raye giggled again, "Vampolitics."

"And if I wanted revenge on your kind I would have killed that little silver princess the day she moved in here."

"Hold your tongue, she is a Whelan. If she turned into her true form she could rip you into more pieces than a pack."

"Ah, yes, but until she's even aware of her standing she is fairly easy prey. My advice? Get on with it."

I glanced at Raye but she said nothing.

"We're working on it." I noticed the time on Raye's watch, "I have a study date. Raye, please keep me in the loop from now on."

 **Serena Whelan:**

"Lita, I answered your call and showed up. What was the emergency?"

"I thought you wanted answers about that wolf from the other day?" I did want answers, but the research of it was starting to scare me.

I grabbed a soda can from the center of the table, "I don't want to believe that any of this could be real."

"Why not? I think it's fascinating, like that Vampire Diaries show," Lita grinned as she set down a third bowl of stew.

"I'm just not that interested, I guess."

Lita stopped in her tracks, "Oh really? That wasn't you I saw at the library today walking out with a book on vampires when you said you were studying?"

"I'm a Classics major, Lita, I study even the myth of our history."

"Uh, huh," was all that she replied. I looked down at the table.

"Are we expecting someone else?" The thought of Lita trying to talk mythology as reality in front of other people made me more nervous. _It's getting harder to breathe in here._ There was a soft knock on the door.

"Shiloh, thank you for coming. This is my friend Serena," Lita gestured towards the table.

I tried to force a smile, "Nice to see you again."

"Likewise," he said. Shiloh's smile seemed to calm my nerves again.

Once we were all seated at the table, Lita explained our meeting. "I met Shiloh at Wicca group last week. He's a TA with the Classics department and I was showing him some of the stuff we looked at the other day…"

"You, you're interested in witchcraft?" I almost seemed more embarrassed for him now than when I was ashamed for my own books.

"It is a hobby. I am more interested in the history and origin of magick, though I guess I have dabbled in some of the _spells_ ," he waved his fingers in front of him.

"Well, as I was telling you, this totally freaky thing happened the other day to Ser—." Lita's voice seemed to trail off and I found myself locking eyes with Shiloh. His stare was reassuring and created this hold on me. All I could hear was an echoing sound of Lita's voice as my focus grew further.

"And we're not sure exactly but the spell indicated a werewolf."

Shiloh practically choked on his food. "A werewolf?" Lita nodded. "But they don't exist."

"They do," I added. Lita and Shiloh looked towards me. "I—I've never seen such an animal before the other night, well, not in real life. There's no other explanation unless there are animals here in South America that I have never heard of before."

Lita bobbed her head and pointed a finger at Shiloh, "I knew it. It has to be a werewolf. We'll have to figure out a way to kill it." My eyes shot up to Shiloh's and I waited for him to respond.

"We can't kill it. Besides, it's probably just an endangered species from the more rural areas. It's probably lost."

"I think it's dangerous to be kept alive. It almost killed Serena!"

"Actually…" They both looked at me again, "Actually he didn't touch me. He attacked my date but only looked at me. It was weird."

"Maybe you're the wolf whisperer," Lita laughed. Shiloh was back to eating his food. "Shiloh, have you seen any books on werewolves?"

He shook his head, "Not really. I _suppose_ that if they do exist they keep many of their secrets hidden."

"Secrets?" I was intrigued. "What kind of secrets?"

"Um, well," he thought for a moment, "I mean, vampires die from a stake in the heart, right? How much is really known about these _wolves_?"

Lita responded, "Who says a stake finishes them off? The vampire stories by Anne Rice don't even burn from crucifixes."

"True, but that's a work of fiction."

I added, "I thought you didn't believe in these creatures."

"I never contradicted that. I merely stated that a Hollywood film about vampires is hardly a firm source for research," Shiloh took a sip of his drink, "I wouldn't know how to go about finding more information on a creature barely written about as it is."

We continued talking about the possibility of werewolves and even vampires as dinner continued. Shiloh was not the fount of information that Lita seemed to expect but he was great in debate and definitely knew his research. The night grew late and just when I was about to bid my leave Lita suggested a movie night.

"We could run out and grab some creature features! What do you guys say?"

"Lita, it's late as it is. Perhaps another time." I grabbed my scarf and headed for the door.

"I'll walk you home," Shiloh hurried to my side, "You know, so the _werewolves_ don't get you."

I smiled and turned to Lita, "Thank you for dinner. I'll call you tomorrow?" She nodded and Shiloh held open the door for me.

 **Shiloh Volkov:**

"Which building do you live in, Miss Whelan?" I looked over at her as she watched her feet.

"Uh, C. You?"

"Building E."

"Hm."

"Listen, do I make you nervous? I honestly thought you would feel more comfortable walking home with someone rather than be out alone."

Serena stopped. "I do," she turned to face me, "and I do thank you for the offer, it's just… I don't really know you."

 _But don't you?_ "I understand, Miss Whelan." We began walking again.

"And you can call me Serena, not that that is my real name either."

I foolishly responded, "Would your real name be Serenity?"

Serena looked at me confused, "How'd you know?"

"I, uh, I guessed."

"Pretty good guess."

"It's just something I read somewhere." _Damn it._

"What do you mean? You saw my name in a book?"

"Sort of, but it's been a long while. I don't know why I thought of it. Serena isn't too popular a name, you know?"

"Neither is Serenity," she smiled. We got to the second floor of her building when she told me goodnight.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? You seemed uneased at dinner."

"I'll be fine. I guess I never really got into the supernatural part of my studies. I still don't believe in it but it's scary to think that beasts like werewolves could be out there."

"I actually think they would be called the lycanthrope, if you wanted to pursue further research on the subject."

Serena pursed her lips and nodded, "Well, I'll see you around." I grabbed the tips of her fingers and she gasped.

"Hopefully soon."

As soon as Serena was inside I rushed to knock on the door of my sister's dorm room down the hall. "Shi? What's the matter?"

"I think our timetable has moved up. She's beginning to ask questions."

Raye led me inside and turned on a lamp by the sofa, "What kind of questions?"

"Her friend invited me over to ask about witchcraft but most everything we talked about was an attack from a lycan the other day," Raye seemed awkward. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"I—I couldn't help it. When I heard her name and smelled that _leech_ I had to do something!"

" _Still_ right here," Ami called from down the short hallway. I rolled my eyes.

"She didn't see me change, no one did. I was still careful," Raye pleaded.

"Did you make eye contact with her?" She fell silent again. "Raye, I asked you if you made eye contact, in your lycan form, with Serenity Whelan."

"I might have."

I stood up from the couch and practically flipped the coffee table. "You… You've got to be…" I ran to the freezer and opened the door, cool air washing over me. "I cannot believe… Raye, you…"

"I'm sorry. I told you I didn't really notice it before that night."

"No wonder she kept looking at me during dinner."

"It's not like this wasn't coming."

"But she doesn't understand it! Don't you see, Raye? She was scared for me to be walking her home. She was scare of _me_ , a wolf, a Volkov, walking _her_ home!"

Raye rushed over to me and whispered, "Would you be quiet! Anyone could have heard that." I pressed two bags of frozen vegetables onto my face. "Listen, we were bound to speed things up anyways. More vampires are flocking to this area for the tourists. If any of their Elders come to town we could lose her."

I paused, _Damn it._ "I think I saw two the other day on campus."

Raye furrowed her brow. "How can you tell?" I laughed sarcastically to myself, upset that I didn't pay much mind to it then. "No, seriously. How?"

 _I can't believe I shrugged it off._ "They wore the Shakadian crest on their rings. Andrew Sorenson and Darien Rothschild."

 **Serena Whelan:**

"Mina? Mina, are you home?" I placed my keys on the hook by the door and began walking towards our two rooms. I heard voices coming from her door and knocked when everything became silent. Turning the knob I called for her one more time, "Mina?"

"Hey!" She bounced up to the door and slid out. "Did you need something?"

"Is something burning?" I sniffed the air, "Are you using candles?" I heard another voice from the bedroom. Mina seemed hesitant. "Oh, I am _so_ so sorry. I didn't know you had a guy over."

"No, no it's not like that, Serena."

"A woman then? That's alright too. I was just heading to bed."

"Serena…"

"It's cool. Just put something on the door next time." I shut my door behind me. "That was embarrassing." I looked to my laptop on the desk and immediately glided towards it. Shiloh's comment about my name fascinated me and I needed to know more. _Is there an old myth about a woman named Serenity?_

I spent the next hour searching for my name on the internet. All I could find was a _Firefly_ movie, a metal band and Google suggesting the film _Serendipity_ as a possible search. I was about to give up hope when I decided to look up my surname.

"Gaelic form of "O' Faolain"? What does that mean?" I searched further into the meaning of Whelan. "Descendant of Faolan whereas 'faol' represents wolf." I pushed my computer away from me, "Okay, _that's_ freaky."

I jumped when I heard a knock on the door and saw it open. "I didn't mean to scare you, Serena. I sent him home."

"You didn't have to do that. I just didn't know who was here. I've been a little jumpy lately."

"I've noticed. Would you like to go to lunch tomorrow? I'm afraid I have spent too much time with other… activities to really get to know you."

I nodded, "That sounds great." Mina smiled and closed the door behind her.

Turning back to my desk I decided to shut the laptop down for the night and get ready for bed. _At least I'll have one normal friend._


	6. Chapter Six

**This Sailor Moon story is set in an alternate universe with some of my own original characters. Sailor Moon and the cast belong to the magnificent Naoko Takeuchi.**

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 **A/N: To clarify, here is a summary of what we, or rather the audience, should know about each main character at this point:**

 **Serena : Definitely something wolf-y and definitely something special about her, all of which she is currently unaware of**

 **Darien : Vampire, from the Elder family**

 **Andrew : Vampire, from the Elder family**

 **Shiloh : Wolf, brother to Rei**

 **Raye : Wolf, sister to Shiloh**

 **Ami : Vampire, friendly to some wolves**

 **Lita : Friend dabbling in witchcraft, curious**

 **Mina : Roommates with Serena**

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 **Did anyone get around to listening to the song suggestions from the last chapter? If so, let me know what you thought of them (there are more below too!).**

 **Songspiration for this chapter: "Youth" by Daughter and "Everybody Hurts (Unplugged/acoustic version)" by The Corrs (suggestion: listen to this one during Serena's flashback).**

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 **Serena Whelan:**

I awoke the next morning to find myself having missed Professor Castell's class and late for my class with Professor Rothschild. "Shi—," I flipped the blankets off of my chest and rushed to the door, stubbing my toe on the corner of my bed in the process. Whining, I opened the door to see Mina's backpack already gone.

By that hour I didn't see a reason to rush over as the class would be nearly done by then. "Lita will fill me in on what I missed," I nodded as I put two frozen waffles into the toaster and waited for them to pop up. My current plan was to have a snack whilst doing more research on the origin of my name.

A couple of hours into mindless searching for more on _Serenity_ and _Whelan_ I found myself typing in the term that Shiloh had used last night. "Let's see what you know, Mr. Volkov."

The search pulled up more results than that of _werewolf_ , and much of the previous term had only pulled up old Hollywood horror films and pictures of Taylor Lautner shirtless.

"Silver is widely said to be a weakness to the lycans though the origin of this information is now being called unreliable by a few researchers and enthusiasts," I read aloud from the screen. "So they might have a weakness then." I looked down at my small jewelry box and unfastened the hook. Inside were a few necklaces, a bracelet and two rings. I reached for the silver bracelet my grandmother gave me on my sixteenth birthday and sighed, almost reluctant to admit that putting it on now would bring me a sort of solace.

I sat my laptop aside so that I could prepare for my upcoming exam and soon I heard Mina arrive home.

She knocked on my door and I allowed her to enter, "You ready for our lunch date? I know this great place just a couple blocks from here." I slid on my boots, grabbed my purse and headed out the door with her. "Is that new?" she reached down to touch my wrist.

"Uh, no. My grandmother gave it to me. I guess I was just feeling sentimental today."

We continued on and the eatery she chose was indeed delicious. Mina talked about her studies and asked about my own. When I first met Mina I had judged her unfairly, thinking she was not very intelligent and that she perhaps had gotten into the study abroad program because of her looks. In reality, Mina was quite bright. She was a dual major in linguistics and etymology and dreamed of becoming a researcher.

"How did you decide on that field?" I sipped my café.

Mina sat down her fork and pressed her napkin to her lips, "My mother and grandmother got me interested in ancient languages when I was a young girl. It's been a hobby of mine since then."

I nodded and took another bite of my sandwich.

"So, tell me, have any _guys_ caught your eye? I know that you had a date with a guy your first couple of days here," Mina smiled.

"Not really. I haven't even seen that guy since then, it's like he disappeared," Mina furrowed her brow. "What I mean is that he hasn't been to class since then either. It's been almost a couple of weeks."

"That's odd."

I bobbed my head, "But there is this one guy…"

Her hazel eyes grew wide, "Ooh, I knew it! Tell me about him." Her creamy blonde hair swayed in the breeze.

"Well, he's older, just by a couple years. His name is Shiloh and he—he's really sweet."

"What's he look like?" she sat up straight closing her eyes; adjusting herself almost as if bracing for impact. "I need an image."

"Alright, um, he has dark blue eyes and paler skin. I think he's from Russia so he has a thick accent but speaks English fluently. Err, he has dark black hair that forms into two even sideburns. His hair is a bit long, but he tends to style it back," _I wonder what his hair would look like unstyled, with his bangs hanging in front of his face._ "I don't know much else to say."

"That's alright," she kept her eyes closed, almost concentrating now. "Does this _Shiloh_ have a last name?"

I smiled to myself, "Volkov."

There was a crash and I turned to see a waiter falling to the ground with broken glass shards on the pavement before him. Looking back at the table I saw Mina's eyes open with a sudden panic.

"Are you alright?"

She shook her head and looked back up at me, "I, I need to get to my class. I'll talk to you tonight? Dinner at the apartment?"

I nodded, "Sure."

"Great. See you then."

Mina ran off in a hurry and I failed to catch her at home when I returned for my books. I figured my best shot at getting my studying done was to be around other students at the library where I would be too embarrassed to research such things as lycanthrope and mystical creatures.

The time flew by rather quickly and before I knew it the studying hall I was in was practically vacant. I looked at the time and remembered Mina saying she'd have a dinner prepared for us tonight. _I wonder what all that was about at lunch. I'll have to find a good way to ask her._

I shuffled my books into my grey backpack and headed out for the trek to my apartment building. Other students were flocking the campus outside, some gearing up for club events or meeting up with friends and I formed a smile at the sight. Back at my old campus, I didn't feel like I fit in anywhere. Now, and still without joining a particular club, I had friends and I was having a good time. "I never want to leave," I whispered to myself.

"Oh, no? Would your family never miss you?" I heard a deep voice come up behind me.

"Who are—oh," I smiled. "Professor Rothschild."

"What are you doing out so late, Miss Whelan?"

"Uh, studying. The test in Professor Castell's class is coming up and I have that paper for your class as well," I adjusted the straps on my shoulder.

"Ah, yes. I passed back the thesis sheets today. You weren't in class."

I bit my lower lip, "I do apologize for that. I got wrapped up in my studying late last night and I'm afraid I slept through my morning courses today."

He nodded once, "I see. Well, I should recommend a stricter studying and sleeping routine in the future." I shrugged in agreeance. "We could go over your thesis now if you have the time?"

I looked out to nowhere in particular and thought for a moment, "How long would it take?"

"Not long at all," he gestured for me to walk with him. It turns out that my thesis was a great start but needed some shaping down as my subject was too broad. Professor Rothschild asked for me to elaborate on what angle I was trying to take so that he could help me narrow down the thesis. As I explained my original idea he seemed intrigued. "What a wonderful topic. How did you come up with it?"

We spoke further on the subject, both of us deeply engaged in the discussion. His words were even and calculated and I became focused on his dark cerise lips. I felt a small dread realizing I did not want our walk to end. _Why are some professors so hot?_

"You were needed at home?" he asked, looking at the time piece from his pocket.

"Is that a pocket watch?" He nodded. "I've only seen them at garage sales."

"It is a family heirloom. Would you care to look at it?" Darien Rothschild leaned forward, handing me the watch. The chain was still connected to him and the scent of his spicy sage and pepper cologne overwhelmed me. I looked at the beautiful designs underneath the light of a street lamp.

"And what's this emblem here?" my fingers trailed across the ridges of the small symbol.

"It is my family's crest."

"Rothschild?"

"You could say that. I possess a ring with the shield as well." He stretched out his left hand to reveal the antique ring.

"This is quite beautiful." I felt myself feeling a sense of warmth over my body, a familiar feeling of ease and comfort. _There is something odd about this symbol…_

"Did you need to be returning home?" he smiled handsomely. I could almost melt at the sound of his lilthy voice.

"Uh, I um," I rubbed my eyes.

"That's alright," Darien Rothschild pulled his hand from me and the warm feeling fell away. "We can talk more later."

I looked up to realize where we were. We had walked all the way to my block and practically to my building. "How did we get here?"

"We walked, dearest," my professor smiled again and I almost felt giddy at the butterflies in my stomach. "Have a grand evening," he winked at me as he began walking away.

I stood there for another moment trying to gather the energy required to make my legs move again. I knew he was my instructor but the allure he had over me told me it didn't matter. _It's only a crush, anyways._

Once I made my way to the apartment I noticed the smell of food coming from the main area. "Serenity!"

"Oh, you've made an actual meal." The small dining table had two empty plates with a roasted chicken in the center and various sides around it. "I don't suppose I'll be getting dessert with this date?" I joked.

"Actually there's some fresh melon sliced up in the ridge," Mina's shoulders fell. "I wanted to apologize for earlier."

"By making our living arrangements uncomfortable," I joked again, noticing the lit black candles on the end table. Mina followed my gaze and suddenly tried to explain.

"No, it's not like that. I—I have something I need to tell you."

"Mina, what is it? I'm tired," I didn't realize it before but exhaustion seemed to come swiftly as I had made my way up the stairs.

"I need you to follow me. Don't worry, they can't hear us," she motioned to the candles and then led me to her bedroom door. "I didn't have a man here last night, nor a woman. I need you to have an open mind, alright?" I nodded hesitantly, my hand starting to get sweaty in hers. Mina carefully unlocked the door and it creaked open.

Inside there was a tapestry of a moon and stars above her bed, all inside of a Celtic tri-knot. To the right were her tall bookshelves, ones just as my own, though hers were filled with older looking books and random trinkets and objects. I gasped at the sight of a small skull.

"Don't worry, it's not human." _That makes it all the better_ , though it kind of did.

I then saw a short table with a woven cloth and a series of candles circling a small dish of water with some leaves in it. There was an old book opened to a page in the middle laying at the foot of the table.

"Ancient languages, huh?" Mina smiled. "My friend Lita would get a kick out of this." I looked around the room, continuing to be mesmerized.

"I wanted to tell you that I am a witch, not only a practicing one but a witch from a powerful lineage."

"This… is pretty neat." I was beginning to accept this confession as more than a weird hobby of hers but as a reality; frankly, I was beginning to accept that the world around me was no longer the world I knew. "Forgive me for asking, but can you do stuff? Like, spells?"

Mina raised an eyebrow as she reached her hands outward. Her eyes closed and without muttering a word the unlit candles in the room became lit. She retracted her arms and gazed around the flaming site.

"This was one of the first I learned. The better a witch gets at perfecting her craft the simpler a spell becomes."

"Why are you telling me all of this? Were you afraid that I would try to break into your room and find all of your witchy stuff?"

Mina shook her head, "I had a vision."

"What? Today?" I gulped, "That's what happened at lunch? You had a vision?"

"Yes, but I've been having visions before… visions of you."

I furrowed my brow and tried to survey Mina's expressions, "What visions? Why of me?"

"My mother and grandmother do not know. We started getting visions of a woman looking much similar to you. As time went on they grew stronger and we saw a name, then a school. This school."

"Wait," I took a step back. "You knew who I was before we met?" she nodded, "You transferred to Rio to find me?"

"Please, don't be frightened. We mean you no harm."

"Why—why are you here?" I asked, careful of my words. _Who is this woman?_

"I was sent to protect you Serena. We have reason to believe you are in grave danger."

"Danger? From what?"

Mina sighed dejectedly, "We don't know for certain. We are not even sure why, though that would help greatly in figuring out what is after you."

"Alright, I think I can accept for one moment that what you are telling me is the truth and that this isn't some kind of weird dream," I rubbed my right temple. "What is it that you saw at lunch?"

Mina closed the bedroom door and led me to her bed. "Here, take this," she put a small crystal in my hand. "Hold onto this tightly." I did as she instructed and she place her hand over mine, forming a ball. "Now, close your eyes and focus. I am going to attempt to show you what I saw."

"Your vision?"

"Yes, now, focus." Mina's legs were crossed and she began whispering to herself. I watched in amazement before remembering my part in this ritual. The lids of my eyes closed and I waited to see if her vision would appear.

Streams of colors began to flow towards me and I saw a small beam of light getting larger until it enveloped me. The image was of me as a child, running to pick up a ball in the backyard. My dad was still alive and he lifted me up like he was the strongest man in the world. At the time, I was convinced he was and that he would always be there to protect me.

My younger self giggled as he taunted me with his fingers, letting them dance in the air as I tried to reach for them. He kissed my cheek and beckoned for me to return the favor. From the back door I heard my mother calling for us to come in for lunch, her hair still done up in beautiful curls with a bandana holding them in place.

I watched as he spun me around, my long white-blonde hair gleaming in the sun until the image went white again.

"I'm sorry," Mina said simply. I reopened my eyes and felt that they were wet from tears.

"What was that?"

"I accidentally intercepted a memory. I didn't mean to intrude."

"No, no it's fine," I wiped the tears away. "I didn't even know I still had that memory."

She smiled affectionately, "He seemed like a loyal man."

I bobbed my head gently, "He was." Mina allowed for me to keep to my thoughts for a moment.

"Is it alright if we continue?"

Mina wrapped her hands around mine again and we both closed our eyes. I tried harder to focus this time and saw similar colors flowing towards me. This time the light revealed several dark images of a battle. The moon was full and high and I heard snarls in the distance. Up the hill was a figure beckoning me towards it. I started running to them when another person called after me. "Serenity! Serenity!" I looked closer and recognized certain features before the image became clear. Shiloh Volkov.

I snapped out of the vision and fell back against the wall. "Shiloh? Shiloh wants to hurt me?"

Her lips pursed, "That's what I'm not sure of. I called on my guide the other night when I first saw his face to attempt for a name. The only name he gave me was Volkov."

"But he wants to hurt me?" I began to feel a deep betrayal.

"I do not know Serenity, but he definitely seems to be involved somehow. I would be wary of spending too much time alone with Shiloh until we know more about him or at least you."

"What could he or anyone want with me? I'm just a normal girl from Nebraska."

"There is definitely something special about you. I could feel it from the moment we first met eye to eye."

"What could it be?"

Mina shrugged. "I'm working on that with my mother and grandmother and my guide," Mina leaned in closer to me. "I know I'm asking a lot of you but I need to trust that we are not going to hurt you. The spirits have chosen me to be a guardian for you and I promise that we will figure out why together. Do you trust me?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"You do. You could request a room change, fly back home to your mother or do anything your mind calls you to do. I am just asking that you allow me to be your guardian while we discover who wants you and why."

I pondered it for a moment. "Alright, I guess it doesn't hurt anything. If this is all some big mistake or even an MTV joke show it wouldn't be all that bad."

Mina laughed for a moment. "I do wish to inquire one thing from you. If you have any weird feelings or inclinations that are out of the norm for you, you should share them with me. Depending on why this Shiloh is getting close to you, there could be others after you as well."

"This is scaring me, Mina."

"Don't be scared. We don't even know what they could want from you, which could incline that they won't be trying anything too soon."

"I think I need to lie down."

"Are you not hungry?"

I bit the corner of my lip, "Oddly enough, not really. I think I just need time to digest all of this information." Mina chuckled at my joke. "I will trust you, for now. I only know so much about you and therefore can only promise so much."

"I understand. I will keep trying to find out more about this for you, Serenity."

"I much prefer Serena."

"But why? Your birth name is so beautiful."

"Yes but Serena is more normal." I rubbed my eyes, "I'll talk to you in the morning, okay?"

I went to my room and changed into my old high school sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. Sleep came pretty easily, despite the details that had just been revealed to me.

 **Darien Rothschild:**

"Serenity… Serenity," I whispered from outside of her bedroom window. Though my thrall would have no effect on a lycan, I had the feeling that she was just as captivated with me as I was with her. A moment later I was glad to hear the old window panes creak as she unlatched the lock.

"Hmm? What are you doing here?" she asked, still half asleep.

"I said we would talk more later. Would you care to join me outside?" I grinned. Before returning I had the opportunity to change my attire to something more modern and young; a pair of black jeans, a dark grey button-up and a leather jacket.

"I'm not dressed," she looked back towards her room and faced me with a smile. "I can be outside in just a moment."

I patiently awaited her arrival and heard her footsteps not but ten minutes later. When she stepped out under the light of a street lamp I took note of her attire; a dim-grey dress with small ruffles at the knee, a black cargo jacket that was almost the length of her dress and a pair of converse.

"You look lovely, Miss Whelan," I greeted her as she approached me. "Forgive me; I am used to you wearing much brighter colors, neons and other bold shades."

"I guess I just felt like not attracting more attention than necessary."

I tried to hide my smile. _She's already becoming more connected with me._ This was, of course, the plan. Now that we knew about her lineage my plan was to figure out a way to get Miss Whelan to trust me before putting her trust in a pack.

Trust is a high commodity in our world. It's the bind that holds groups together and is the source of problem for groups that have become broken. Serenity was indeed a Whelan, though her exact place in the lineage was unclear at this point. If we could sway her to our side, we might stand a chance in a future war with the lycanthrope…

"Let's be off then," I offered my forearm for her to hold onto as we made our way into the night.

Serenity was becoming more comfortable with my presence. Her unrest near me was faltering and she no longer avoided eye contact. _So long as I can keep her close, she'll have no problem accepting what I am._

Her beauty was infectious on my mind. I have had a hard time putting thoughts of her aside since the day she caught my eye on flight 434. A part of me yearned for her pleasures, though I desired more than a simple drink from her veins. I felt that her feelings were mutually then just as they were now.

"I've never hung out with a professor before… especially so late at night," she looked forward to the night sky. In the morning, she would awake to only bits and pieces of this evening together, discrediting them as reality in favor of a dream. Her smile shined almost as bright as her unusually white hair.

"You know, I am only filling in for the time being. And the quarter will be over with in just a matter of weeks."

"Are you flirting with me, Professor Rothschild?" she played with the charm on her necklace before letting it fall gently between her firm, supple breasts once again.

"Are _you_ flirting with _me_?" I grinned devilishly. "Please, call me Darien. I love the way your foreign tongue...," I exhaled slowly, "forms the vowels." I watched as her cheeks turned rosy and she shielded her gaze, embarrassed. The desire to lead her into a secluded alley was almost too much. "Miss Whelan, might I try something?"

She seemed hesitant at first but then intrigued. "Alright."

If this were a mere date I might have kissed her right then, but our connection was not strong enough; she could resist. But I did want to. I really wanted to. The desire to make her mine was stronger than I had felt in a long time.

Instead, I reached for her palm and turned it upwards. So far, my touch was still not deterring her. "You see this line here?" I gestured for her to pay attention, "This here says you are a loyal companion."

She gazed down, "I suppose that is a true statement."

"And this line," I changed where my index finger motioned, "Tells me that you have a great destiny ahead."

"It does not," she remarked, baffled. I looked closer, also unsure if what I had seen was real. "What does it really say?"

"Well, it indicates that you are of nobility, Miss Whelan." _She—she's…._

"A queen?"

I almost choked on the words, "It would seem so." _It really is her; she could be the one in the prophecy._ "Miss Whelan, I would like to ask you a question about your childhood."

She leaned in closer, "What do you want to know?" Her eyes were fixed on mine, still mesmerized.

"What color was your hair as child? Surely this color is only you following a fashion trend."

"No." _No?_ "At birth I had reddish hair but it turned white by my first birthday. I actually tried dying it pink in high school but the color never took, which is odd because most girls have to bleach their hair like this before adding weird colors."

I exhaled sharply, "Miss Whelan, I rather enjoyed this walk with you tonight. Would you be willing to go on another in the near future?"

"I, I would. Thank you, Profe-," she paused. "Darien."

I guided her back to her apartment building before making my way to the manor. _She could be the Queen written about in the scrolls._

"Dreeew!" I threw open the library doors to find him pouring a scotch.

"How did the date go?" he smirked.

"You know very well it was not a date, Andrew."

"And you know very well that this girl had you under her spell the moment you first saw her, at least before you smelled her for the dog she was."

"Be quiet!" I slammed my fists down on the table. "Serenity—she, she's…," I took a deep breath, "I think she's the woman written about in the prophecy."

"No…" Andrew cocked his head to the side in disbelief. "What gives you that idea?"

"Her hair was red at birth and has been the shade it is now since a year after."

"Baby's hair always changes, so I'm told," he took a swig of his drink.

"And her palms. The destiny line on her left palm curls into a crescent on the tail end."

Andrew's drink sprayed from his mouth, "You're shitting me." I shook my head. "The silver diadem… that is what Thomas saw before his death; it wasn't a treasured piece, it's… her."

"I had thought that myself but I am as surprised as you. The prophecy never mentions her being of the lycanthrope."

Andrew nodded, "What are we going to do?"

"I'm not sure yet. There are other wolves nearby. If she's awakened as their leader before we can sway her, we might lose our chance. On the other hand, she might trust me enough to be fearful of them; of her own kind."

"You should tell your father the good news. He'll be pleased to know that the Queen has been found and in the country he banished you to almost three hundred years ago nonetheless," Andrew jeered. "I know that this revelation must be even more exciting for you."

"My Queen," I reached down for a glass, my bangs falling in front of my eyes. "I shall have you by my side soon, my Serenity."


	7. Chapter Seven

**This Sailor Moon story is set in an alternate universe with some of my own original characters. Sailor Moon and the cast belong to the magnificent Naoko Takeuchi.**

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 **A/N:**

 **Thank you all for the reviews! They've been helpful in encouraging me to write this chapter, which had multiple revisions before gracing this site. Finally a little more 'heat' is present in this chapter, maybe more to come? ;)**

 **These chapters seem to be getting longer, but don't necessarily get used to it. Sometimes short chapters are crucial for the story to flow smoothly so they will likely still come about.**

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 **Songspiration for this chapter: "Spanish Doll" by POE and "O Fortuna: Bon Harris (Nitzer Ebb) Remix" by Gregorian.**

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 **Darien Rothschild:**

I walked out to the third floor balcony to take in the evening air and my last few nights with Miss Whelan. Smiling to myself, I considered retiring to the library for a drink and a reading when I looked out and saw her. Serenity was on the balcony of a nearby house dressed in a loose-fitting white nightgown; the beaming light from the house behind her illuminated through the white fabric, showcasing her silhouette.

Exhaling, I walked closer to the edge of my stone balcony and rested my elbows on the railing. I watched her closely, silently hoping that I would see her without so many layers of fabric.

To my surprise, she pulled on the strings of the gown and it fell to her feet. My body tightened at the sight and I stood up straight. "Serenity…" I whispered to myself.

I looked closer to see her reaching for something on her railing and then water started to rain down on her. Serenity was showering on her balcony and for the entire world to see.

I wished to be near her, to see her closer with the water glistening on her skin. And then suddenly I was. Her skin was evenly tanned over her curves. I watched in amazement as Serenity patted her shoulders with a soft sponge. Her eyes slowly worked up from my base to head and they grew wide.

Light enveloped me and I woke with a jolt, finding that I was only in my bed.

 **Serena Whelan:**

Gasping for air, I sat up quickly to take in my surroundings. The small bedroom was enclosed and I looked down to see myself clothed.

"What the hell was that?" I said breathlessly. _Why do I keep dreaming like that?_

My body still trembled from the dream as I tried to piece together what I had seen. I was washing myself in full view of my gorgeous professor and he was… watching me. I smiled to myself, now thinking of the dream as what it was; a dream… just another sensual dream about my unattainable professor.

Just a few days ago now I found out that my roommate was a witch sent here as my guardian, for a reason neither of us knew. She has been trying to stay by my side constantly, not that Lita minded having more friends to hand out with. Her warnings were fresh in my mind, especially with the reveal of Shiloh.

He had tried to ask me out a lunch date, even tried to get Lita to set us up, but I still told him no. As for Lita, I told her that I just wasn't interested in dating at the moment, which she seemed to understand. For the time being, I couldn't take the chance that he was after me or something that I could have or, well, I have no idea.

Besides, it wasn't exactly so simple… because it wasn't that I did not want to date at the moment; I just had someone _else_ on my mind.

Mina, Lita and I met up after Castell's class to make plans for the weekend. Lita heard about a food festival that was happening and I could hardly pass up on the opportunity to snack. After the plans were settled, Lita followed me to our class with Profesor Rothschild and she noticed something about me. "There seems to be an extra skip in your step, Serena. Something you want to tell me?" she nudged my arm.

"Not really," I tried to hide my smirk as we walked into the classroom and Darien's eyes fell on me. Beneath his gaze I could sense a smile as he watched me find a seat.

"Good morning, class," he spoke aloud.

"Good morning, Serenity," I heard a voice said. I turned to my left and then to my right when Lita caught me looking around.

"What is it?"

"Did you hear someone say my name?" Lita shook her head no but went ahead and looked with me. When my eyes fixed on Darien again he seemed perplexed.

"Is something the matter, ladies?" he said coolly. We both shook our heads and went back to our notes as he pulled up today's slides.

Instinctively from hearing his voice, the images from my dream resurfaced in my mind. I tried to focus on the information he was giving us but it was of no use; I wanted him.

I resorted to my daydreams and strained to pick it back up where it left off this morning, trying to piece together what could have happened next.

 _I was on a balcony and there was a shower, for some reason. Darien was watching as I openly bathed myself and maybe he would have walked up to me… I would have turned to him and teased him a little more, putting on a small show. He definitely would have been anxious then._

 _I then could turn off the water spout and while I am turned from him he comes up behind me to whisper in my ear while reaching he hands around me to—_

"Uh, just one moment class," my professor scowled. I looked up to see him leaning over the desk catching his breath. He ran a hand ruggedly through his hair before straightening up. "Hydration," he said simply, reaching for a pink plastic cup by the water tank to pour himself a drink, "is very important." Darien's eyes rose up and fixated on mine. Something seemed different about him. _He's never looked at me like that before._ "Miss Whelan, please stay after class."

 _Busted_.

Not long after that the class was starting to pack up their bags for the next class. Lita forced a smile as she parted ways with me. There wasn't much I could do. I guess I had gotten caught sleeping in class and would have to face a rant from my professor; it's not like he could just let me off the hook because he liked me, at least I think he liked me. I wanted him to like me.

"Serena, please come up here." I gulped as I propped myself up from my small desk and walked forward.

"Professor Rothschild, I am so sorry for my behavior—," I began to say.

"Tell me what color I am thinking of."

"What?" I replied before hearing something, "Teal?"

He furrowed his brow, "And number?"

"Thirty-seven."

"And place?"

I thought for a moment, "Venice." He looked at me in disbelief. "Why? Where those things correct?"

"Indeed, they were."

I shrugged, "That's odd. I'm sorry, did you not need to speak with me about falling asleep in class today?"

"Serena, I need you to be frank with me. Were you dreaming about something?"

I blushed, "Uh, I—I was." _But I can't tell you what!_

"And what was it?"

My heart began to race. Surely I couldn't tell my professor I was having a sex dream about him in his class. "I don't remember."

"Oh, no?" He grinned. "Was it something like this?" Darien concentrated for a moment and I saw the image of me bathing with him watching me.

"What the—," I stepped backwards. "What—what are you?"

"What am I? What are _you_?"

I looked down at my hands, the backside then palms. _Mina said there was definitely something weird about me._ "I apologize, sir. I do not know."

"I do."

My eyes shot up. "You do?" He nodded and reached for my hand.

"Come with me."

My professor led us behind the wall with the slideshow screen and pulled my face close to his.

"I need you to trust me. Serenity, I have a secret to share with you."

I struggled to breathe with our close proximity. He had never been so close to me before and although something inside me was telling me to step away, part of me wanted to close the last bit of distance.

"What is it?" _Can he not wait until the quarter is over with? I don't want to get in trouble with the school._

"I know that there are people after you."

"How can you—wait, what people?"

"I think they're called the lycanthrope, sort of wolf people."

"Yeah, I know of the lycans."

He looked shocked, "What do you know of them?"

"Not much. I just did some reading on them before. What makes you think that they're after me?"

Darien stood up straight and thought for a moment. "I have something else to tell you but it won't be easy to understand. I need to know that you will try to keep an open mind before I tell you."

I nodded slightly, wondering if I could keep such an open-ended promise. He looked nervous, like he was a little boy admitting a crush.

"There's something special about you and there's something special about me."

"You mean you're like… like me?"

"Not exactly. But I will treasure your secret with as much guard as I hope you can assure me."

I furrowed my brow, "Please tell me."

 **Darien Rothschild:**

I exhaled the breath I had been holding, "I'm obviously trying to tell you that I am not exactly human, Serena." She didn't seem to falter after that reveal, her eyes begging me to continue. "I've, well, I have been around for five-hundred years now; five-hundred sixteen next month."

"What are you then? A vampire?"

I paused, "Yes."

Now her eyes seemed to react, "Like for real?"

"Yes."

"For real, for real?"

"Yes…? Serena, I am telling you the truth. Do you not believe me?" I began to search my mind for a way to prove it to her. _I would have thought she would have been scared of me._

"I believe you, I think… I mean, I guess it would be easy for me to believe it if I had some sort of proof but honestly I could see you being a 'creature of the night'," she barred her teeth in a mimicking pose.

I'm sure the look I gave her showed how puzzled I was, "Creature of the night?"

"Yeah, it explains why I'm so attracted to you. Vampires are supposed to have that allure, right?" she grinned. _She thinks I'm attractive?_

"Well, only when we try. It's not a given."

We stood there in silence. I suppose she was thinking of what to say next but I could no longer connect my thoughts with her. I watched as her long, white hair moved over the curves of her body. She was wearing a loose, earthy-green tunic with leather leggings.

"You haven't been having," she paused, "you haven't been dreaming about _me_ , have you?"

Our kind did not possess the ability to blush, with our features being mostly frozen, but if I were human I knew it would be happening. "Depends. What kind of dreams?" I wasn't entirely sure that our thoughts were actually connected but I wasn't about to reveal that side of me not knowing if she had also shared those dreams.

"Well, they're always different, sort of. Um, last night," she stopped breathing. "Is this weird? I mean, you're my professor and all."

"Pay no mind to that; this ranks in importance." _What am I saying?_

"Oh, okay," Serena tucked a loose section of hair behind her ear. "Last night's dream, and then again during class, there was a balcony. I'll just give a few details about it all because trying to find the right way to say this is killing me." She gulped, "Balcony, night gown, shower, ring a bell?"

I felt my hunger growing deep inside, "Yes. And to clarify, I did share it both times."

She took a step towards me, "What does it mean?"

I shrugged, "I am not yet sure." _Liar. It has to be connected to the prophecy._

"Am I—?"

"A vampire?" I chuckled, "No, I'm afraid not."

"Have you always been one?"

I looked around the other side of small wall, "Do you have time to go to my home? I would feel more comfortable not discussing this in public."

She looked shocked and nodded quickly, "I do suppose that you would like to keep from others finding this out; lest they come after you with pitchforks and torches."

 _Fond memories._ "My car is outside, may I?"

 **Serena Whelan:**

He reached for the books I was carrying and led me from the classroom. The walk was silent and the only sound I made was a gasp as I saw his beautiful white sports car.

"Aston Martin Vanquish, 2016," he said without questioning.

"It's quite lovely."

He opened the door for me and I almost fell into the deep seats. The ride to his home was silent again as I tried to figure out what was going on. _How can I know what to expect when I reach his home? I mean, he_ is _a vampire._

"You can be open with me," he said suddenly. I almost flinched out of the car from the disruption.

"O—open? About what?"

"Your feelings. I know that you are probably starting to get scared of me. I want you to know that I am fully willing to disclose anything you would like to know about myself or my culture. I also plan to tell you all that I know about those after you."

"Oh."

"So you don't have any questions yet?"

"What do you eat? Or drink?"

He didn't answer right away but it's not like his answer surprised me, "Blood. Typically human. Animal blood if we're in a pinch." I stayed still thinking of another question before he started answering his own, "To get through the basic stuff, no I will not be drinking from you and I won't let anyone else either."

I wondered who else he might be talking about but figured that I would find that out soon enough. "Do you sleep? I mean, you must sleep otherwise you wouldn't have had dreams."

He chuckled, "Yes, we sleep. Not in coffins or anything like that. I have a California King myself."

"And sunlight doesn't affect you?"

"Nope. We're cancer free."

I became serious, "That's not funny." _How can he make a joke like that? Doesn't he know anyone who—well, I guess he might not._

"I do apologize; I didn't mean to belittle human concerns." He waited a moment before continuing, perhaps sensing my anguish, "Did you know anyone who—."

"No," I cut him off. "I mean, I don't want to talk about it."

He bobbed his head, "Understood."

We neared a large gate surrounded by those large bushy fences that were shaped like gigantic blocks. _Topiaries or something,_ I thought _._

"You like them?"

"Huh?" I realized that whatever kind of psychic connection we have must be working again, "They're fine." My gaze returned to the front window to see a large mansion coming into the view. The gravel driveway twisted and turned to make the drive up the hill easier, which gave me plenty of time to take it all in.

Most of the land that was visible to me was covered in beautiful green grass. Some trees formed at the property line and I was beginning to feel like I was attending a grand ball. The mansion was definitely gothic on the outside, with gargoyles positioned on the top. Darien parked and opened my door but I kept gazing up at them.

Darien nudged me, "Don't try to run or they'll be forced to come after you." My eyes widened and he started to laugh harder than I had ever seen him do so before, "I'm just joking. They're stone and will remain stone."

I nodded uneasily as Darien led me into his home. The inside also had a gothic feel to it, though not overly decorated as I pictured from movies and television shows. He did have Persian rugs lining the floors.

"Can I interest you in a drink? Ginger ale, perhaps? Or just water?" I smiled at him and he led me into another room which I suspected to be the library. Bookcases taller than any house I had ever seen were filled to the rim with books. Most of them were old and ornate, like in the Great Gatsby movie.

"How do you reach the top ones?" I turned to see him preparing our drinks. Darien finished pouring my water before he picked up the glass and his entire being floated up in the air. He did not jump and he did not spread his arms out as if to fly. He simply floated up into the air for a moment and across the room to lower himself next to me.

"Oh, you know, practice." I downed the drink forgetting it was only water.

"Have anything stronger?"

"Well, of course, but I don't wish to leave you inebriated in the home of vampires."

My ear caught the sound of the pluralization, "Vampires? How many are you?"

He gestured for me to join him on the couch, his drink in hand, "I don't think we have a census but I venture thousands, possibly tens of thousands by now; in this building—err—three regularly."

"Are you sure you don't plan to kill me?"

Darien laughed again, this time more maniacal, "You're quite distrusting, aren't you?"

I muttered as I brought the glass to my lips again, "Well, you are a monster." My eyes floated to his and I could have sworn they glowed.

"What else would you like to know about this _monster_?"

I rested the glass in my hands as I pulled a leg up on the couch to face him better, "Why am I here?"

"I thought we were trying for privacy?"

"No, like, you said you knew something about me. I have been having these weird feelings ever since I left for this university and I—and I don't understand what's going on. People are following me, things are attacking me—."

"You mean the wolf?" he sipped his drink.

"You know?"

"I was there. I'm sorry that I didn't intervene."

"What did you see?"

Darien exhaled deeply, "Oh, just a three-hundred pound wolf pouncing on you and your date."

 _Was it really that big?_ "Well, what do you know of them?"

Darien sighed, "Not too awful much. Not much is known about the lycanthrope, though I suppose they prefer to keep it that way." _That's what Shiloh told me…_ "So as far as exact weaknesses, I'm at a loss."

My fingers were squeezing around the glass so tight that it was creating small squeaks, "Do you know what they want with me?"

"Would you like to know more about yourself, Miss Whelan? You are indeed someone special, someone from a lineage of powerful creatures."

My gaze had fallen but at the sound of my _lineage_ they shot back up, "What am I?" I asked shyly.

"You, dear Serenity, are also a lycanthrope."

 _I'm a what?_ "I'm a what?"

"A wolf, so to speak."

 _A wolf?_ "A w—wolf?"

"Come," he stood up and reached out for my hand. I left the glass on the end table and followed him to one of the large ornate books resting on a podium. "Do you see this?" I followed his finger to a page that seemed to be like the old bibles written by monks.

The page had my family's name written on it with a crest. The shield featured a black wolf in the bottom left corner and a white one in the top right. The other two parts were decorated with a small flower and a crescent moon. Behind the shield was a long silver sword with thorns wrapped around it.

"It's—it's my name," my fingers traced the raised ink.

Darien seemed to become very sincere and calm, though I had not known him to be anything more than calm, "I've had this book for centuries but I never thought I'd come into contact with someone like you."

I turned to face him, our faces now mere inches apart. My mind began racing as I saw how he looked at me. _Does he want to drink from me? No, he said he wouldn't. But, he_ is _a vampire, Serena._

"I promised I wouldn't."

"Hmm?" I replied lazily, realizing that I had gotten lost in his eyes.

"I won't bite you, Serena. Do you want me to continue telling you what I know?" I smiled wearily, "As I was saying, you are a part of the lycanthrope, but you are more special than that. You see, there was a battle long ago, many battles in fact, a war. Your family ruled over the lycans as the royal family."

"Royalty?"

"Yes, but something happened. Some of your kind started disagreeing with your family's handling of the situation and there was an uprising." My heart ached at the sound of hurt against a family I never knew, could never have known. "Honestly, from the little we know about the lycans, we thought the royal line was wiped out after that. There have been rumors, because the surname does still exist today, but I felt it when we met that day at the airport."

"You could sense me?"

He chuckled slightly before straightening up, "Uh, there's a smell." I began to feel self-conscious. "No, just a way for one creature to recognize another. You did the same when we first met, did you not realize?" I shook my head and grabbed my left arm with my right hand, "It's probably because you haven't been awakened but I know that you sensed something different about me."

"Why is it that we—well, how come we have this weird connection all of a sudden?"

He gestured for me to follow him to another text, "We have been spending more time together, Serena. Couples tend to develop a new sense when they get close to one another." _Couple?_ "Oh, I'm sure that only raised more questions and I do apologize for that. This book might be of use then," he opened it to a seemingly random page and placed it in my hands, "This book is older than that of the one I showed you a moment ago. It depicts the history of my kind, the wars we have been involved in and the progress we have made as our own race. It also tells of a prophecy, a symbol of peace to come."

I leaned over the text, intrigued, "What it is?"

"Who; it's a woman," his voice sounded rough. I gazed up at him and took in his features. I knew Darien to be tall, muscular, handsome and charming, but something seemed to falter in that suddenly small voice of his. "She supposed to be a great beauty, one like our kind has never experienced before; _The Silver Diadem_."

"Diadem? Like a crown?"

He looked like he might join me back on the couch but continued to hesitate from such an action, "Fit for a Queen. My Queen."

"Yo—your Queen?" my voice was shaking by that point. _Is he trying to say that I'm_ —

"Serena, I believe the woman in our prophecy is you," my head started to reel and he finally joined me on the seat, "I wanted to be honest and upfront with you. There is a war brewing between the lycans and the vampires again. Things have been calm for the last four-hundred years but this is inevitable."

"How can I be with _you_ if I am not a vampire? I mean, I'm from whole 'nother world. Surely I must marry another wolf or something."

His expression looked crushed, "Do you not realize this Serena? There are lycans trying to find you. They know the royal family somehow survived and they mean to _kill_ you."

"Why would they kill me now? They don't know anything about me!"

"Serena—."

"And wouldn't I just be an asset in this supposed war you think is being cooked up?"

"You are a member of a line they wanted to end. They didn't trust your ancestor's decisions then so why should they now? Having you around would only jeopardize whoever has evaded your kind's hierarchy, not to mention that a princess such as yourself could be kidnapped in such a war for ransom. Eliminating you could only help them at this point."

My heart stilled, _he won't drink from me because he needs me to establish a war treaty._

"I most certainly am not."

I was taken aback, "Stop reading my thoughts."

"Stop being so easy to read."

My blood began to boil, "You think you can just pull me in telling this grandeur stories and I'll fall for it, don't you? Gosh, men are so stupid."

"Excuse me? You are speaking to vampire, an elder vampire at that. I am no mere man."

"Fluff the ego all you want, but you just brought me here to win a war."

"Yes, Serena, but not in the way that you—."

I stood up and slapped him across the face, hard, "Do not talk to me again, _Professor_ Rothschild." I managed to get to the door of the library before he appeared in front of me, "Let me go!" I shouted as he grabbed a hold of my arms.

"No."

"I said—let me—," my body began to feel heated and my heart pained. I felt so angry at myself for trusting this man, or vampire, for even a second. _How could you let it get to this,_ I wondered to myself. His grip on my arm tightened for a second before it seemed to loosen though his eyes still showed quite the struggle.

"Serena—," he managed to say during the scuffle. A white light enveloped me before it all went dark.

 **Darien Rothschild:**

I backed up against the door as the bright light began to fade away and as I looked to where she was standing before now a massive silver wolf appeared before me. Her eyes gleamed as she positioned herself to pounce. I lunged backwards to burst through the library doors as Serena leaped over the new distance to bring herself over me, her towering form covering my height as she snarled.


	8. Chapter Eight

**This Sailor Moon story is set in an alternate universe with some of my own original characters. Sailor Moon and the cast belong to the magnificent Naoko Takeuchi.**

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 **A/N:**

Thank you to SMSM92, TropicalRemix and phillynz for submitting reviews. They were well-received and I do hope you'll let me know what you think of this chapter. Also, thank you so much SMSM92 for the _long_ and lovely review; it made my day!

This chapter will answer some questions I know some readers have had for a few chapters now, but it also raises a few more… don't worry. Everything has its place.

I had a good workable timeline for this story but as I write it just seems to be getting longer, which I guess isn't too much of a problem. I do promise we're getting to some good M-rated parts for those of you looking for that in the story. Just exercise patience with me because a rushed romance, in my opinion, is not a romance at all.

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 **Songspiration for this chapter: "Nightmare" by flora cash and "How" by Lisa Loeb.**

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 **Serena Whelan:**

"Serena," a voice echoed through my mind, no images surfaced. "Please! I mean you no harm."

The voice was pleading for their life. _What can I do about it?_ My throat burned and although I felt extremely tired, my body seemed to jolt with adrenaline. Everything around me was hazy and I didn't know if I was dreaming again. I tried stretching to relieve my muscle soreness.

"Se—Ser—Serena!" the voice became clearer, desperate cries evident. _Am I hurting them?_ I tried to speak to them, to ask them what was the matter but all they said in reply was, "Don't bite me, please!"

That's when I felt I could no longer achieve consciousness.

 **Darien Rothschild:**

"When do you think she'll wake up?" Drew asked from the hallway as I leaned on the doorframe watching Serena's chest rise and fall with each breath. Her hair was all messed up on one side from her slight tossing while asleep.

"No way of knowing. I've never seen a lycan transform for the first time. This is something usually done with a pack or at least family who understands what they're going through." We were lucky that her first transformation was so confusing for her; that fact might be the only reason I am standing here watching her now.

"I never saw one with white fur."

"Silver," I corrected him. "It's the sign of royalty for lycans; their one known weakness."

Drew scoffed, "They're weakness is the crown? Sounds like a dangerous monarchy; no wonder they overthrew them."

"No," I said firmly. Sometimes Drew was a lost cause when he just jumped to conclusions, "Just never mind." Serena was beginning to stir and I rushed to her side. She had been out for a few hours now and the sun had gone down. _I'm sure her friends are going to want to know where she's been all this time._ "Serena? Serena, are you awake, love?"

"Hmm? Professor Rothschild?" she asked drearily. _Why does she keep calling me that? I'm not really a professor, damn it._

"I'm here," I whispered, dusting away a piece of her beautiful hair from her face. Even while sleeping she looked beautiful and delicate.

Her eyes began to flutter open as she saw me. She hummed to herself as she stretched out her arms, "My back hurts."

"Well, arching it like that will do it," I replied, sitting down next to her. The bed moved and she accidentally rolled over but caught herself with her hands. I was motionless, waiting for her to realize where her hands had ended up.

"What's th—," she began, her eyes widening. Serena shrieked and flipped off the bed.

"Serena!" I attempted to catch her but she was already on the ground. My arms rested on her shoulders as she got on all fours and moved her neck to the side cracking it.

"That's better," she sat up, hair in her mouth as she took in her surroundings. "Wh—where am I?"

"My home, you never left."

"I don't re—what time is it?" she asked aloud before reaching for her cellphone. It had been ringing a lot earlier while she slept so I turned it off. "Where's my phone?" I gestured for the small end table.

"It kept ringing."

Serena rushed over to it and held the power button, "So you couldn't answer it?"

"And say what? 'Oh, hi, this is Serena's professor. Yeah, she blacked out and is sleeping in my bed; will call with updates.'" I scoffed, "That would have gone over well."

She rolled her eyes as the icon on her phone popped up, "Well I'm sorry that you care so much about your job. It's not like I _want_ you to get fired."

"What? You honestly still think that I am a professor of Rio University?"

She stopped messing with her phone to stare at me, "You aren't?" When I shook my head she threw herself back onto the bed, "Is anyone at the university there to learn something and not there to find me?"

I cocked my head, "Who are you talking about?"

"My roommate Mina is a witch," she froze, looking like she regretted telling me that. "Forget I said that."

"I could try but I do believe you just said your roommate was a witch." She didn't move, "Serena is that true?"

"What's it to you?"

"Well as your protector I need to know these things," _Is that what I am now?_

"Protector?" she sat back up, "What do I need protecting from?" Her shirt had gotten off-centered during her small fit and I tried not to smile.

"Besides yourself?" I smirked instead.

"What are you blabbering about now?" she sounded annoyed. _Surely I'm more fun to be around than that…_

"Did you hear me before? You blacked out, Serena. Do you truly have no memory of what happened?" I heard her thinking, _Did you drink from me?_ "No, Serena." _He's doing that thing again,_ she thought. I sighed.

I have never, in my five-hundred years, dealt with such a difficult person. She may be beautiful and she just _may_ be my Queen, but there will be no living with her.

"I heard you saying something before," she whispered.

"Yes, we know that our thoughts are connected."

"No, before. Did—did something happen?"

"You really have no idea," I looked into her eyes, searching for emotion. "You changed into your lycan form."

She looked dumbfounded, "I turned into a wolf?" I nodded. I again looked over her to read a response, "What did I look like? Did I look like that one that attacked me?"

"Silver-haired but yes," her mind told me that she wanted to know why that particular color, "Your hair color seems to be the color of your fur."

"I'm—I'm really a wolf…" she said solemnly. I don't know why but her slowness to understand that simple fact infuriated me.

"How is it that you can have a witchy friend, a vampire friend and feel scared because of a supernatural war and yet you still cannot accept what you are?"

As soon as I saw the tears welling up in her eyes I felt remorse and wanted to take it all back. "I am scared, Darien. I was afraid of coming to this country and getting a disease that I would have to be quarantined for, not this. This," she reached for her heart, "this is something that I brought with me."

I knew that she needed time to herself, at least that's what I would have wanted. "I'll go get you something to eat. It's too late for you to leave tonight, not when we don't know who exactly is after you." I stood up from the bed and reached the door, "There are pajamas in the armoire over there. Make yourself comfortable."

 **Serenity Whelan:**

The door clicked close and when I reached for the knob I realized that it was now locked. _What am I doing here?_ My heart started to race and I ran to the wall-high window on the other side of the room. It was more decorative than functional so there was no latch.

I struggled to regulate my breathing as I looked around the room to acquaint myself with the layout and furnishings. There was a dark wood, extra-large bed beside one wall with a matching night stand on either side. The armoire that Darien had mentioned was opposite the bed and had a beautifully carved sailboat resting on the top. I walked towards a door that had a credenza leading the way. There were several candles of black and red resting on it.

When I reached the door I opened it to see a short hallway with a bathroom on the left and a massive walk-in closet on the right. Running my hand down the row of clothes I said aloud, "Does the man own anything other than suits and tuxedos?" As I dragged my hand down the row I hear a rustling sound. Upon investigation I discovered a picture frame covered up in brown wrapping.

Curiosity got the better of me and I plopped down on the ground to carefully tear it off by the tape pieces. "Shit," I muttered to myself upon accidentally tearing the actual paper. I peered through the tear and saw that it was a painting, a portrait really, of Darien and a few other people; all of them extremely tall. Looking up to make sure I was still alone, I began tearing away the rest of the paper.

I grazed my hand over the portion with Darien residing. It didn't do him much justice but it did make him seem more fierce and dangerous than I knew him to be, so far at least. On either side of him were a long-haired brunet man and a woman with large and curly red hair. Behind them were two figures that only could be described as taller, fiercer and bolder. The woman had almost green hair that fell to her waist and penetrating red eyes. Her smirk sent chills down my spine.

The man next to her, on the other hand, had a gentle look on his face, even with his distinguishing vampiric features. It seemed almost like a trick in his eyes. I ran my fingers across the dark fur shawl that rested on his shoulders, feeling the raised paint give the shawl its unique flare.

"Oil from hands can ruin a painting, you know."

I almost screamed when I heard Darien talking to me, "Wh—what are you doing here?"

"I think that's a better question for me to ask you. I told you to get changed, not rifle through my personal belongings."

"I," I looked down at the painting, "I didn't mean—."

"Yes, you did. I get it, you're curious. But please," he knelt down to pick up the painting, "don't touch my things." He took the painting to the main room again and propped it up against the credenza. "I sent my friend out to bring you something to eat. We don't have a lot of human food around here."

"Why can't I just go home?"

His eyes shot back at me from the armoire, "I don't want you to leave, Serena."

"You have a weird way of showing it, _friend._ " _Did he just groan?_

"You're awfully stubborn. Would you rather I just drop you off by the university without any protection?" When I didn't answer him quick enough he responded to his own question, "I thought so." Darien tossed a set of black pajamas in my direction.

"They're…" I ran my fingers over the fabric.

"Silk. Yeah, I'm not cheap," he said gruffly.

"I wasn't going to say that. Stop acting like you know me."

He seethed, "I happen to know more about you than you seem to."

I kicked off my shoes and tried my best to respond coolly, "Why are you so hostile?" I walked away to the walk-in closet to change.

"Uh, vampire?" I rolled my eyes and put on the silky pajamas. They were, of course, fairly large on me so the pants wouldn't sit on my hips and the shirt was almost a dress. "How's it coming?"

"Uh," I shrugged off the bottoms and looked in the mirror. _I could get away with just this top; it's almost a nightgown._ "Fine," I finally replied as I reappeared in the doorway. When his eyes made their way over to me he seemed to stiffen.

"That's all?" he smirked. I felt my face turning red as I wadded up the pants and threw them in his direction. When he caught them he sighed and began folding them up again. "Serena, I am only trying to help you. I have a meal being prepared; I'm letting you stay in my home, a place that no human can say they've lived through a visit of; and I'm trying my best to be nice to you."

I almost chuckled at that before just roaring with laughter, "This is you being nice? You? Hah!"

"She has a point," a voice said from the doorway. I blinked repeatedly to refresh my eyes.

"Drew? What are you do—wait, you…," I looked to Darien, "you're…?" I could feel my body tighten with fear with a familiar burning sensation in my throat. Darien lunged towards me to grab the sides of my shoulders.

"Serena, don't do it. Calm down. You need to calm down," he repeated on. My body temperature started to rise and my vision started to darken. _Am I changing?_ "Drew, give me that water!" Darien called after his friend for the bottled water. When it was in Darien's hands he pried my mouth open to pour it down my throat before dumping the rest of the contents on my head. "You have to cool down, Serena! Don't let the fear and anger get to you."

I was so preoccupied with trying to suppress whatever was happening to me that I didn't have time to get angry about being drenched. I felt his arms wrap around me tightly, "I won't let anything happen to you. You can trust me, Serena."

After a few moments the heat began to dissipate and I felt my muscles start to relax. He still held my body close to his and I was sad when he pulled away. My body, still soaked, began to shiver from the cold mansion.

"That light for a moment there, wow," I heard Darien's friend Andrew remark. I noticed the wafting smell of the food that he had brought for me.

"They have Thai food here?" I asked, looking at the bag in Drew's hand.

"The dog has a good nose," Drew teased. I saw Darien glare at him and Drew quickly left the food on the night stand. "Have a good night you two," he winked before disappearing behind the closed door.

"Sorry about that. Hungry?"

"And cold."

Darien retrieved another black night shirt, "I assume you only need this part?" I nodded and he walked it over to me. "I'll be right back." He retreated into the second room with another set in his hands and I quickly changed in the bedroom.

"Hey, do you own anything not in black?" I called out as I went over to the take-out bag that had three different main dishes to choose from. Opting for the Pad Thai, I crossed my legs on the bed and munched on the food. I pulled out my phone and texted the girls that I was studying late that night. Darien returned and just watched me amusedly as I scarfed the food down. With a finally slurp I sighed contentedly.

"Finished?" he teased. I got under the covers and smiled stupidly at him.

 _I suppose I should show my gratitude for all that he's done._ "Thank you for letting me stay here," I finally managed.

"No, problem," he strutted over towards the door and I said goodnight with a smile. Darien reached for the light and suddenly was by the bed again climbing in.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to get some sleep; why? Did you have other plans for me this evening?" _Don't remind me._ I'm sure that he must have had some kind of night vision because he seemed to react from my blushing. "Don't tell me you're a—?"

"No, that's not it. I just don't trust you enough."

Darien pondered this for a moment and turned on his side to face me, propped up on his elbow, "Well, we can talk again. Would that help?"

"No, you said you'd be open but you haven't been."

"How so?" he paused, "Oh, you mean the painting. Serena, that's an old family portrait. It's just sentimental."

"Are they—?"

"Vampires? Yes. And yes they are still alive, so far as I know. You see, my father and I didn't get along so well."

"Oh? Were you not fit to be king?" I teased until I saw his expression, "I'm s—sorry, I didn't honestly think it would be that."

Darien chuckled, "The funny thing is, the problems were more with my mother than him. She always accused him of being too soft on me and my siblings." I listened as Darien described his younger siblings Beryl and Fiore and his parents. Vampires are not able to procreate so their chance at 'royalty' was even rarer than that of human princes and princesses. "Each of us were created by my father, Damien. He and my mother, Trista, would survey villages for those with talent; humans already on the verge of destruction. Once it was decided, they would hatch a plan to get us alone to seal our fate."

"How did they get you?"

"Well, you see, my human parents died from a plague that had started to sweep the Eastern world, my sister too. Every Sunday evening I would visit their gravesite to place a fresh rose down. Damien and Trista knew this and were there waiting for me one day." My stomach turned hearing how Darien was cornered to his death almost five-hundred years ago. "I was actually glad for it at the beginning. Here I was, trapped by a monster who wanted my human life to end as much as I wanted it to. My father told me I was one of his most willing victims he'd ever encountered and it was from that day forth that I was known as Darien Rothschild, the heir of a throne that did not yet exist."

Darien closed his eyes for a second, smelling the air, "You're afraid."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are," he leaned in closer, his eyes glowing dimly, "I can sense it. Serena, I'm not telling you these stories to scare you." I nodded without a word and he sighed, "Please just try to be more comfortable around me. I mean, we do have an eternity to look forward to."

I shifted at that remark, "I haven't agreed to anything, you know."

"Yes, but I can tell we'll get along splendidly." His tone was sarcastic but he smiled sympathetically. "Would you care to sleep now or do you wish to hear more about my, err, upbringing?"

"Sleep, please. I feel like I haven't had a decent night's rest since I came to this country."

"Oh, well I could _suggest_ to your mind that sleeping for a full eight hours is something it really wants."

"Are you offering to hypnotize me?"

He chuckled, "It's not as simple as hypnotism but I assure you it is quite safe."

"Um, no thank you. I'd rather try my own hand at sleeping."

He moved from me and adjusted himself under the covers and I noticed that he was one of those people who don't bundle their arms under the blanket, "Suit yourself."

After an hour of staring at the ceiling I began regretting my decision, but only a small bit. I felt trapped, like Darien spoke of when he was turned by Damien. I was just finding out that I was a werewolf and that I was a part of some old vampire tale.

 _Why is it becoming so much harder to trust people?_ Not that I had a big stake in trusting people before.

I was still struggling to get to sleep when I felt Darien rustle on his side of the bed. Though it was a fairly large bed, we were both towards the center. He had been turned away from me but as he moved he now faced me; his arms reaching out to pull me into his embrace. Suddenly I felt fourteen again as my face turned red.

When I would awake that next morning, I would recall it as one of the best night's sleep I've ever had.


	9. Chapter Nine

**This Sailor Moon story is set in an alternate universe with some of my own original characters. Sailor Moon and the cast belong to the magnificent Naoko Takeuchi.**

 **Sessediz**

 **Rated M: Language, war, romance**

Okay, so I do want to apologize for the loonng time it took me to update this. I have two others stories I'm working on (both _Outside the Walls_ and _Becoming Closer_ have been updated again this week so please check them out if you haven't already!) and I'm working on opening up my own at-home art business. My final excuse for this late update is that with each chapter this story has evolved into something new and I  promise you it's going to be better than I ever planned for it to be originally. I spent the last few weeks logging ideas into a journal until I could make them cohesive and I'm stoked to be writing this story again.

As a reminder, this story is rated M and it's going to be earning that distinction real soon. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and I hope to have another update shortly. All reviews encouraged!

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 **Songspiration for this chapter: Literally anything by Perter Gundry. Seriously, look him up.**

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 **Shiloh Volkov:**

"What do you mean you haven't heard from her?" I asked the blonde girl in front of me. She was half a foot shorter than me but she didn't seem to let it make her weak; her resolve unwavering. "Her friend Lita says she hasn't seen her in the last few days," _neither that professor of hers._ I shuddered at the thought that she could be hurt.

"I don't know where she is and I'm worried too. If you hear anything, please let me know?" The blonde seemed to be hurrying me from her door.

"Is something wrong? Ar—are you hiding her here?" I tried to open the door but after a couple seconds of trying the thick board seemed to stiffen.

"I told you," she replied sternly, "Serena is not here. If you hear anything, please contact me. My name is Mina."

I released the door and Mina shut it abruptly. _What the hell?_ I walked down the hallway to my sister's dorm and, as usual, I went in without a knock. The place smelled of candles and Clorox.

"You _still_ don't live here," Ami muttered as she flipped through the channels.

"Do you even go to class?" Ami didn't respond and I turned to Raye who was busy studying for her literature exam coming up. "Her roommate hasn't heard from her either."

Raye didn't look up, "And? People drop out of college all of the time. Besides, we're by the beach. Couldn't she have just found a guy and want a few days off?" _God, I hope not._ I couldn't understand why Raye was no longer concerned with our family's promise to the crown.

"I suppose so but at what time do _you_ suggest that I start to worry?"

Raye dropped her pencil into her textbook and closed it, "I dunno, maybe more than a couple of days?"

"It's been three."

"Oooh," Raye waved her hands in the air before going back to her studying.

"Shove it, Raye," I flipped her off not caring if she saw it or not and went to the kitchen for something to eat.

"You have your own fridge, _sobaka_ ," Ami called out from the living room. _Sure, show off._

"And you have your own diet, _leech_. Don't you dare speak in my native tongue."

There wasn't much food left and I chalked that up to Raye not being as quick with the grocery trips as I was with my own apartment. On the shelves laid an old box of takeout, a partial gallon of milk and a can of soda while the door held a jar of pickles and bottles of mustard and mayonnaise. _Shit, I need real food._

"I'm going out for dinner," I announced as I made my way for the door.

"Good riddance."

I turned to glare at Ami but then refocused my gaze on Raye, "How can you still stand living with _that_?"

"If you could turn down the hostility perhaps she would as well. Ami's never done anything to you."

I humph'd and left the room to see a familiar blonde woman walking down the sidewalk in front of the building. I crouched by one of the pillars and tried to focus on her conversation with the tall man that had been standing next to her.

"I'm fine, really. Thank you so much for taking care of me the last few days."

"Not a problem at all, Miss Serenity." I could hear that bastard smiling.

"Could I call you later? I need to talk to Mina about all this but part of me already misses you."

"I understand. I'll await your call."

There was silence with a mix of ruffling fabric before I heard one of them start to walk. I looked around the stone pillar to see Serena starting for the stairwell and then I felt like I was being watched but when I turned my gaze back to their meeting place I could no longer see the man. _I bet that was Darien Rothschild._

"Shiloh?" my heart jolted as I looked up to see her standing before me.

"Serenity—I mean—Serena." I stood up and dusted off my clothes out of habit.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Oh, me?" I fumbled with my pockets to find my phone. "Just enjoying the fresh air, checking the weather, you know."

She furrowed her brow, "Right." Serena started walking towards her room but paused, "Shiloh?" Her face looked angelic and silently wondered if there could be a more beautiful woman in the world. I had to push the thoughts out of my mind. _I am sworn to protect her._

"Hm?" I asked simply.

"I know what you are. Stay away from me." Serena flipped her long, silver-blonde hair over her shoulder and left me standing there, mouth agape. _What in the fu—."_

 **Serenity Whelan:**

I quickly bolted the door hoping that Shiloh was stunned enough to stay back for the time being; _at least for tonight._ My breathing was harsh and heartrate elevated when I looked up to see a slightly peeved Mina with arms crossed.

"I thought we talked about this, Serena," she pursed her lips.

"Uh, what exactly?" I stepped away from the door and took a seat on the couch, motioning for Mina to do the same. It's not like I just disappeared completely for three days. I kept some contact with her so that she would know I was okay.

"I have been worried for the last few days wondering if you were even the one texting me! Com'on, I thought we agreed that you couldn't keep secrets like this from me. And what do you do? You go play house with a fucking elder vampire!" Fire seemed to be set in her deep blue eyes and I wondered quietly if it was a mental metaphor or a symbol of her underlying power.

"I'm sorry but it was the best I could do of the situation. Mina, I found out why there are people after me."

Her form didn't soften but she nodded gently, "And this Darien told you this?"

"Yes, and it happened."

Mina furrowed her brow, " _What_ happened?"

I took a deep breath. I knew this conversation was coming from the moment I asked Darien to drive me home. No amount of practice could make the words more eloquent; of that I am sure. "It would appear that I am part of a line of wolves, like werewolves or lycans or something. I don't know everything and neither does Darien but according to him I am part of the lost lineage for the royal lycanthrope family." Mina didn't say anything right away but I could see it all over her face. "I'm not saying that I trust this Darien Rothschild but he has been very open and honest with me. I know about the war from three-hundred and fifty years ago, he told me of his origin and family's rise to power and about this vampire prophecy that he thinks I am also a part of."

"Prophecy?" Mina seemed really intrigued now and moved to sit closer to me. "Serena, I need to know everything. Don't spare details this time."

We talked for a few hours with me recounting my time with Darien and Andrew at their manor. Darien had provided me with a few texts about the great lycanthrope and vampire war known as the Conflict of Darkness. I left out the bit about Darien's origin because part of me felt that that story was told in confidence. Before I realized how nervous I was, I looked down to see an almost finished braid reaching passed my breasts.

"There's just so much going on. I think his family's coming soon. Darien was casted out three-hundred years ago, like I said, and it was pretty much because of that weird prophecy that he thinks describes me."

"Does it?"

"Does it what?"

Mina sighed, "Does that prophecy seem to indict that you are their Queen?"

I tied off the braid, "I'm not even sure so much that it's what he thinks it is. The prophecy is written in Latin and Darien said the translation insert was truthful but something doesn't seem to line up."

"Do you think I could get a chance to see this text?" _That's right, Mina can read ancient languages._

I shrugged, "I suppose so. Darien's been pretty sweet to me these last few days; I'm sure he'd let me borrow it."

Mina smirked, "Okay, so I'm not advocating for this but do you have feelings for that vampire?" _What?_

"What? No."

Mina raised an eyebrow, "Don't lie; neither to me nor yourself. From your description before, he does sound quiet handsome but as for this behavior do you think it could have anything to do with you supposedly being his Queen? I mean, how better would you convince a stranger to marry you and fulfill a prophecy that would put you back into power and nay your family?"

 _I didn't think of that,_ I thought. _But neither did he; at least, not to my knowledge._ Not that I was actually sitting around considering marrying Darien, but the thought had crossed my mind a few times despite my effort to block him from my mind. _Well, he wouldn't force the union on me, would he?_

"Serena, I just want you to be careful. For all we know, he could be the other person in that vision."

My eyes widened, "Shiloh." Mina cocked her head to the side. "I—I ran into him outside and told him I knew what he was."

"What do you mean? What is he?"

"A werewolf."

"That stalker is also a lycanthrope?" I nodded. "No wonder he's been worried about you; he probably figured out that you were part of the royal line and wants to protect you."

"Protect me? From what?" She gave me another knowing look. "No, no no no. Stop insisting that I have a thing going on with Darien Rothschild." _I guess I shouldn't tell her about the connected thoughts._

"Serena, he _is_ a Rothschild. You said yourself that his parents took power from the other elder families to create their own royalty."

I gulped. Darien had explained why it was that he was originally known as a vampire prince, before he was outcast from their kingdom. Not much is known to him on the origin of the elder vampires, just that they used to be the only ones. Vampirism literally was a sort of race, one that his parents discovered how to pass onto others. Darien was the first vampire created from a bite, plain and simple. From that, Damien and Trista created his two siblings and their used their newfound power to establish the royal family separate from that of the elder families, now known as the elder council.

After the new order was formed, the elders were allowed to create their own lines and from that Andrew and his late brother Thomas became vampires and befriended the Crown Prince. _I wonder how he died_.

"I don't know enough to make definitive claims yet."

"Then I suggest we rethink our position on Shiloh Volkov. His actions could have been misinterpreted and that vision could have been telling us he is an ally."

I bit my bottom lip, "I suppose so."

Not long after that I retired to my room and snuggled under the covers. I had a hard time falling asleep that night and couldn't seem to find a comfortable position let alone actually feel tired. When it reached 1 a.m. I realized that I never called Darien. I scrambled for my phone and pulled up his contact listing.

"Hello?" he said on the other line. To my surprise he didn't sound like he had just woken up.

"I'm sorry. Time got away from me and I forgot that I told you I would call. Did I wake you?"

Darien chuckled, "No, I waited up for you. I figured you would call at some point."

"Well, that's awfully nice of you." My mind started reeling back the conversation with Mina and I began to scrutinize his intentions. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Anything."

I smiled out of habit, "Could I borrow that book you had about the prophecy?"

"Would you prefer to just take the translation? Far less weight."

 _Should I tell him that I want Mina to take a look at it?_ "I thought I could give it another translation. I am a Millennial; I can use Google to see if it comes up with the same result."

"A Millennial, huh?" I could hear him smiling through the phone, "Whatever you want, Serenity."

"Thank you, Darien."

"Did that wolf cause you problems?"

 _He knew Shiloh was there?_ "Uh, not yet. I told him to back off," _though I might be recanting that statement._

"Let me know if you feel uncomfortable going back to your apartment. I don't think he lives there but he seems to frequent your building on the regular." The reveal of that information worried me and I started to wonder if I should be following Mina's advice. "Serenity?" Over the last few days I had gotten used to Darien calling me by my real name and stopped correcting him.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?"

I thought for a moment, "Never better. I should probably go to sleep though."

"Absolutely; have a good night, Serenity."

I woke up the next morning with a slight headache and a dull reminder about school. _Shit, I forgot to come up with a reason for missing so much._ Today was the last day of the week and a _responsible_ student would have informed her teachers of any illnesses. In fact, missing that exam in Castell's class without letting her know why sooner was almost a death sentence. _She's not going to let me make it up without proof I was in a coma._

I decided I would head in early to speak with her in her office and, sure enough, she assumed my long absence was a 'drop-out' move and was only waiting on the final word to remove me from her class list. _Shit shit shit._ I couldn't talk my way out of it and was practically forced out of her office with the glaring stare she had adopted for the occasion.

 _This isn't fair. This is my future we're talking about here!_ I had worked so hard to be sure I was in Professor Castell's class during my semester abroad and now I was on the verge of being sent home on the next flight back to America. _This is just not my day_ , I thought as I turned the corner and crashed into a hard body.

"Sorry!" I knelt down to retrieve my discarded belongings and noticed the person had moved to help me. "I really am sorry—," I paused, "Shiloh."

"Serena." We stared at each other for the longest time until he cleared his throat. "Can we talk? I mean, if you don't have a class."

I scoffed but nodded that I was now free. Shiloh led me out to a courtyard where only a few students were nearby; each busy with their own business but I still wondered if it was safe to be talking about sensitive issues in such an open space. I knew that Shiloh wanted to talk about my discovery of him, I just wasn't sure yet if he for-sure knew who I was.

"Serena, I need to know what you know."

"Why? So that you can use it against me?"

"What?" he looked taken aback, "Why would I want to do anything like that? Do you not know who _you_ are to me?"

 _He speaks as if we're betrothed_. "A princess of sorts."

He shook his head, "Queen." _There's that word again._ "Technically there needs to be a coronation but as the only known member of the royal family, you have the power to rule."

"What do you know of it?"

He chuckled, "I _am_ a wolf." I didn't respond to that and he turned serious, "Serena, I understand that you've been spending time with an elder vampire."

"His name is Darien Rothschild. He is a prince, not an elder."

Shiloh's eyebrow both shot up, "Excuse me?" _Perhaps he didn't know that Darien had more power than a simple elder._ "Why are you so preoccupied with correcting his title? He is the enemy, Serena."

"It is my understanding that my own kind is an enemy too so who is it that I should trust?"

"He told you able the Conflict of Darkness then." I nodded, wondering if Shiloh would have divulged that information if I hadn't announced it first. "But he didn't tell you everything, it would seem."

"What else is there to say? The lycans overthrew their beloved royal family over an argument on how to deal with the war. Apparently the solution to you _dogs_ is to let the other side win by dissolving the order of your kingdom."

"Serena," his voice sounded out like a warning. "That is _not_ what happened, though I could see why _Darien_ would keep the truth from an ignorant girl like you." My blood started to boil and I felt the now familiar feeling of the change coming on. "Serena!" he exclaimed before whispering, "Not yet, not now." Shiloh grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the men's restroom and locked the door behind us with a click. "The sink," he ordered and I knew that he wanted me to douse myself in cold water.

 _I never had such a temper before._ The power was thrilling, appetizing but still altogether scary. "Get away from me," I commanded as he laid his hands on my shoulders.

"I only mean to help."

I turned off the faucet and took a deep breath, "You don't know me, Shiloh."

"And neither do you, Serena. There is so much about our history that you don't know or, apparently, you've been lied to about."

"Just tell me already," I was tired of the banter and wanted answers. If Darien lied to me, I needed to know now not in five days.

"They did it, the vampires."

"What did the vampires do?"

"They caused the overthrow of the crown. They convinced some of our congress members to murder each member of the royal family to end the war… and it did, for a time."

I scratched my jaw nervously, "I don't understand."

"Com'on Serena," he began, "think about it, the vampires and the lycans had been at war for over fifty years. Sometimes we were winning, sometimes they were winning but it would never end. The vampires found a way to end it for good by convincing enough lycanthropes to kill the King and his family. Who do you think would be most likely to do that? A jealous wolf? A common vampire?"

I shook my head without realizing it because I didn't want to think about it. I couldn't admit that if Shiloh was telling the truth then I had just spent three days in the bed of a man that was responsible for the crimes against my ancestors. _I least I didn't sleep with him._

"How can I know what you tell me is true? What proof do you have?"

"I have no proof other than that of my family and a few others. The King entrusted my ancestors to keep their infant son alive and to be sure that he was cared for by a human couple. We were meant to follow the line until the Awakening but a hundred years ago my great-great-grandfather lost sight of your lineages' then current member."

I thought about the genealogical work my mother had done. "Yeah, my mother got on that site and found out that my father's great-grandparents stole away on a cargo ship to come to America."

"They were immigrants then?"

I nodded, "Sorry for the upset."

Shiloh stepped forward, "The fault is not yours, your Highness." He bowed.

"Wh—what are you doing?"

He glanced up through his curly, black bangs, "Honoring royalty."

"Well, stop it," I commanded. Shiloh stood up straight again and walked towards me.

"I understand that this is all new to you. None from your line have known what they were or what you are and there is a war coming."

"So I've heard."

"Darien told you this?" I nodded. "Well that's telling. My family will be excited to know that you have been found. I'm sure that you could stay with me, if you would like. My sister, unfortunately, doesn't keep the best company and lives far too close to you to be any safer of a residence."

"Who's your sister?"

"Raye Volkov." My mind pondered for a moment before I remembered where I had heard that name. "Black hair, white skin like mine, possibly was incredibly annoying when you met her."

"Uh, yes," I paused, "but not—not the annoying part. That's your sister?" He nodded and I remembered getting a weird feeling from her. _Similar to the one I got from Shiloh when we first met._ "Can wolves sense one another?"

"Sure can," he ran a hand through his hair similar to how Darien does it and it made me shudder. "You're probably better at it though. It's part of the royal bloodline." I took a deep breath before suddenly breaking out into hysterical laughter. Shiloh eyed me suspiciously at first and I'm sure he kept going through a myriad of emotions as I collapsed to the ground in a laughing heap. "I—uh, Serena, are you alright?"

I continued to laugh but eventually caught my breath and started to calm down. "I don't know if I should be alright. This—this is all so new to me." I walked to the mirror and pressed two fingers to my cheek. "I _must_ be in a coma," I thought aloud.

"What?"

"Um, nothing."

Shiloh walked up to me, "I can protect you, Serena, if you would allow me."

What choice did I have? Mina said that Shiloh was likely just trying to protect me and that is the exact story he explained to me. He knew details that fit with the ones that Darien shared; details that explained why Darien must have been so reluctant with certain parts of the history.

"I have a friend, Mina, and I'll only come with you if she can accompany me."

"Consider it part of my original invitation."


	10. Chapter Ten

**This Sailor Moon story is set in an alternate universe with some of my own original characters. Sailor Moon and the cast belong to the magnificent Naoko Takeuchi.**

 **Sessediz**

 **Rated M: Language, war, romance**

Only a few reviews for last chapter (though it's only been two days) but I was so excited to post this update! More drama and a bit of romance coming up but it'll get heavier, I promise. I'm already working on chapter eleven but would like to see if we can get five reviews for this one first. Pretty please? :)

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 **Songspiration for this chapter: Literally anything by Perter Gundry but my recommendation is The Edge of Darkness album, especially "Vampire Masquerade." My Spotify is filled with awesomely weird music.**

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 **Serena Whelan:**

"And this is my sister Raye," he gestured to the familiar woman who had entered the apartment. I didn't realize it when I met her before but they both had the same hair color, facial structure and, of course, accent.

"Nice to see you again, my Queen," she bowed. _When will they stop doing that?_

I had brought Mina to Shiloh's yesterday after explaining the new information that he had given me. Mina was still apprehensive, making me wonder why she suggested that I act differently in the first place. We were given the second bedroom to share and the sleep arrangements had been a little… snug. I woke up with Mina spooning me and her arm grasping my waist but she didn't seem too embarrassed at the position once she woke up from my shouting.

"And this is?" Raye asked, motioning to Mina who reached her hand out.

"Mina and I am the witch who has been watching over your duties." _Where did that hostility come from?_

"Well, you can pose resentment against us all you want but the ones who lost track of the Whelan wolfline are long dead; it's like blaming each other for the Conflict of Darkness."

"Yes, a war that I am most interested in hearing about. Serena?" Mina turned to me. "When do you think you can obtain that text?" Before I could answer, Shiloh jumped back into the conversation.

"What text?"

"A book of the prophecy that Serena is supposedly a part of."

Shiloh looked confused, "The book is in our possession."

"What are you talking about?" Mina and I asked in almost unison.

"I'm talking about the journal that Serena's ancestor left. It's called the Awakening and the instructions are meant for her eyes only. What are _you_ talking about?"

Mina crossed her arms, "Darien Rothschild's book about the prophecy of her becoming their Vampire Queen." Raye and Shiloh's mouth dropped and I thought I saw a moment of rage in Shiloh. Raye patted his shoulder before turning to me. I explained, in brief, what it was that they did not yet know and they still seemed apprehensive but really, who could blame them?

"You mean to tell me that that stupid Elder thinks his future bride is _our_ Queen?" I didn't bother correcting Shiloh that time since my feelings for Darien had skewed over the last twelve or so hours. _Feelings?_

"We're not sure if that is the correct translation. Serena seems to think that it was interpreted wrongly and so we're trying to get our hands on it. My mother and grandmother have trained me in ancient languages since I was a child."

I stepped forward, "He told me I could borrow it. I just need to set up a time to retrieve it."

"No," Shiloh stood his ground, "I will not allow that to happen. You cannot see that _leech_ again." My heart pained at the sound of the name Shiloh called Darien but then it hardened.

"Who are _you_ to instruct me otherwise? If I am your Queen, then my orders should be obeyed." I turned to Raye, "No?" Raye stared into my eyes for a moment before dipping her gaze to the floor. "That's what I thought."

I started for the door and Shiloh grabbed my arm, "I cannot let you go, Serena. He could hurt you, especially now that you know what he has kept from you, and I cannot allow the Volkov line to lose you again."

I attempted to pull my body from his grasp, "Unhand me, Shiloh; I don't care what you think you're entitled to… And it's Queen Serenity." A white light orbed around the meeting of our bodies and Shiloh pulled back as if he had touched fire. The light dissipated and I looked to Mina who then looked to Raye. A moment of silence passed through us.

"She really is Queen," Raye said finally.

I stepped back from the group in fear, "What was that?" I wondered how many other things about me were still unknown and then stepped back towards Shiloh, fury in my voice. "When I get back I want everything and I mean _everything_ explained. No creative lying or dodging of information. It would be in your best of interests if you complied with my decision making from this point forward."

Shiloh barely nodded but it was enough for me to accept. I left from the apartment building and walked to the school so that I couldn't be found near the new hideout. Halfway there I called Darien and asked him to meet me with the text. I sat on a bench near the library for forty minutes playing with my phone when a shadow fell over me.

"I don't understand the appeal of these mobile applications," Darien smirked.

I forced a smile back but wondered if it was really that disingenuous, "It passes the time." Darien rested a strong hand on my cheek and he thought; _I've always been fonder of other activities to pass the time._ Something that I had picked up on with the mind reading was the share of emotion and sensations. I could almost feel the passion of his lips on mine but the thought snapped away as the book was brought into view.

"You asked for this?" I nodded and accepted the beautifully decorated book. My fingers ran along the edge of the cover and felt a shiver. "You weren't in class yesterday."

"I thought you said you weren't going to teach anymore."

"I did say that and I did find a replacement now that I no longer need an excuse to me near you," he sat on the bench so that his left thigh rested on my right. "But I didn't see you going there with your friend Lita."

"I was kicked out of Castell's class."

Darien furrowed his brow, "Why?"

I sighed, "I missed the exam and don't have a reasonable excuse as to why. I don't know… school just doesn't seem like a priority anymore."

"I can understand that. If you would like, I could make her reenroll you." _He can do that?_ "Of course I can." His smirk was handsome and just seeing it made me want to kiss him.

"No, uh, no thanks." I played with my hair, "I just need to figure some things out right now. I guess a Queen doesn't have to go to school, huh?"

Darien pulled his leg up so that his ankle rested on his knee, "On the contrary, royalty have been known to be highly educated individuals from speaking age long past coronation."

"Oh?" I knew that I should be getting back but there was a mix of emotions preventing me. Darien could get tipped off if I left him so soon and yet I knew that I also didn't want to shorten the visit.

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"Hm?"

"You've been acting strange lately."

I squeezed the book's binding, "Just taking it all in still. There's so much you've shared with me."

Darien bobbed his head, "I understand."

"Darien?" his eyes met mine and I searched them for deceit as I asked my next question, "There's nothing you left out, right? I mean, you've told me everything?"

"Well, no, not everything. That would take a very long time, you see?" he smiled, "But I haven't kept any important information from you and everything I have told you is the truth to the best of my knowledge." _Nothing. No hint of deception._

"Alright."

Darien smiled and leaned in towards me. I grasped the book tighter in anticipation as his firm lips met mine. My grip loosened but gained its strength back when he brought his hands to cup my face. My body felt enveloped in his and I fell into it, enjoying every twist and turn his mouth brought to my own.

He pulled away slightly and whispered, "Thank you."

My eyes blinked open, "For what?"

Darien smiled, "For trusting me. It's been a long time since I've met someone to trust. For the longest time it was just me, Andrew and Thomas."

"I—I've been meaning to ask you about that. How did he die?"

Darien stiffened and pulled from the embrace. Though his body was anything but warm, I still felt cold at his departure, "He received a vision of you, as I would guess, and we all went out searching for clues. While I was in the East Andrew informed me of his passing; seems that he was caught by some hunters."

"Vampire hunters?" He nodded. "How many know of your kind?"

Darien shrugged, "It's hard to know but just like how there is a lineage of all supernatural beings, there are those that pass down the knowledge of our kind and the ways to kill us." I gave him a look wondering how easy a vampire could be killed and he chuckled, "You're beautiful but I'm not just going to Samson myself to you."

"You've read the Bible?" I was a little shock though I suppose a man who has lived for the past five-hundred years would have read many books.

"Of course. After my family passed during the plague, it was one of the few things that brought me solace. The priest of our small town encouraged me to seek answers in the church. I visited often and as such I was an easy target. My moves were predictable and Damien found the perfect time to exploit my mourning." Hearing Darien talk about his vampire father that way sent a different message than before.

"I thought you liked being a vampire?"

He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. _Oh, don't do that._ Darien must have heard or felt my thoughts because he smirked before dismissing them in my favor. "I did at first. It was a new power and I could easily turn away from the pains of being human, but it doesn't last forever; unlike my new body." Darien leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his hands under his chin, "I'll be honest with you, I'm not happy that it's 2016 and I'm still here, alive and looking like this."

This was a shock to me; everyone wants to be young forever… to see all that Darien has gotten to see firsthand, "Why?"

Darien didn't look back at me, "You know that I was casted out of the kingdom for not believing the prophecy but at one point it meant a lot to me. You can only be a vampire for so long waiting for the soulmate that some piece of paper has promised you before you just implode. I never found her and I wanted it; needed it. I never wanted this life; I just wanted to get rid of the pain. Death would have done that for me quicker than waiting for a prophecy to be fulfilled."

"Y—you wanted to die?"

Darien looked at me this time, "I wouldn't have killed myself. That's a sin in itself and Father Francis taught me not to give into those thoughts, but I would have died at some point. I'm over five-hundred-years-old, Serenity." I pursed my lips as I pondered his explanation. _But Darien has me now_ ; I furrowed my brow.

"I guess I never thought that being around so long could be lonely."

"Terribly lonely, but if it's any consolation you seem to be worth it. I've never met anyone like you, Serenity. I don't know how to handle this situation though. My family is on their way here and they're anxious to meet you but I'm almost scared that they're coming. I haven't seen them for most of my life now and aside from a few letters every other decade I've not heard much from the council."

"What could be wrong about you getting to see your family? Is that not something that you want?"

"I told you, I don't know what I want. Well, that's not true but it's not something that I can have."

"What's that?" Darien looked into my eyes and I felt like I was walking through a portal to paradise. Even in his anguish Darien seemed to be holding onto a small strand of hope; a hope that maybe he's been holding onto for the last half a millennia.

"It'll never happen. Com'on," he stood up, "let me walk you home."

"Um, actually I'm going to a friend's house. Uh, stu—study session."

Darien furrowed his brow, "I thought you weren't doing well in your classes from missing this week?"

"Exactly why I need the help. I could call you later though, if you'll be available?"

"I'll always be available for you, Serenity."

Much to my dismay, I parted from Darien and took a long way back to Shiloh's apartment to be sure he wasn't following me. I thought about the kiss we shared and wondered if we would get to do it again. When I arrived Raye and Mina were cooking a late lunch and Shiloh was pacing.

"What took you so long?" I glared at him. "I mean, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you." I turned to Mina, "I can take over if you want to start looking over the Latin prophecy." Mina glided out of the kitchen and grabbed the book on her way to the table. I took her place by Raye and stirred the sauce. "What's that smell?" I looked over to see Raye busy dicing up a heap of garlic and raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's not what you think. Shiloh just loves garlic."

"Sure."

I grabbed a pot and brought a quart of water to boil. When I poured the rigatoni noodles in Mina asked, "When was this prophecy written?"

"I'm not sure. Darien never said. It's at least as old as he is."

Shiloh spoke up, "And how old is that?"

"I think five-hundred and twenty, at least." Shiloh rolled his eyes. "I could ask him if you'd like."

"Sere, are there any other books about the Elders? I mean, they had to have come from somewhere," Mina shortened my name for the first time and I wondered when the dynamic between us changed.

"Darien doesn't know where they came from and I think he'd know of any books regarding them if such a text was in his possession." I could feel the stare from Shiloh but ignored it. _I'm really starting to hate that guy._ "I guess I could ask him but it might tip him off if I start asking too much."

"Alright, I'll keep reading."

"What is it that tipped _you_ off though?"

"Uh," Mina was scribbling something down in her notebook, "nothing yet, just curious."

I knew that she was hiding something but I figured it was a secret from our new acquaintances and not me. _I'll ask her about it later._

"Dinner's done!" Raye announced. I looked at the food she was bringing to the table and frowned when I saw my pasta.

"I didn't put that much in there."

"I know, I fixed it," Raye smiled. Everyone sat down and started dishing out food. When I was silent long enough Raye continued, "We're wolves, we need a lot more energy to keep our stamina up. Carbs are a good way for that."

"Alright." _I need to know more about this wolf business._ "What else can you tell me about the lycan race?"

Shiloh smiled in a way more genuine than I could say he's shown me before, "We're powerful creatures and we now hail from all nations but our origin is in Ireland."

I took a bite of the pasta, "Like my lineage."

"Exactly, though you are quite mixed at this point," Shiloh stated. Raye hit his arm. "Hey! She's got pretty tan skin for an Irish woman."

"That doesn't matter. The royal bloodline flows through her veins and is present in her hair. Do not disrespect our Queen."

I jumped in, "Thank you but could you explain that further? Why is my hair color so important?"

Raye tilted her head, "It's a signifier of the Crown. Those with the royal bloodline are born with silver hair at birth. One of our weaknesses is pure silver so I suppose that has to do with our origin."

I chuckled, "Well, then I must not be who you think I am. I had red hair at birth." Shiloh stopped eating as the food on his fork fell back into his bowl. "What?" Raye and Shiloh didn't look at each other for a moment before their eyes met. They seemed to be talking with their eyes and I wondered if they had a sort of telepathy like Darien and I shared. "Please tell me what's going on."

"I—we don't know. That's never happened before, I mean, not according to the stories passed down in our world," Raye stated. "Shiloh, do you think mother and father would know why she was originally born with red hair?"

"I'm not sure. They'll be here tomorrow night. I called father yesterday with the news and he said they'd be on the next flight to Rio."

"Y—your parents?"

Shiloh nodded, "Kakeru and Luna Volkov. My father would know if there was ever an instance of it." I smiled shyly and went back to my food. "Serena, what about your parents? Do they have silver hair?"

I froze, not knowing what to say. "No, well, my mother didn't have silver hair."

"What about your father?"

"As I recall, yes he did."

The table fell silent and I knew that they knew. I didn't like talking about my father which is weird because I wish I did. I knew from my support group my mother used to make me go to that talking about your deceased loved one was a good step in the healing process; for some it even keeps them alive in memory, in a healthy way of course. No number of years could keep his death from being fresh in my mind and I longed for a release from the pain.

"What happened?"

"Cancer," I replied; such a simple problem, now grown to a world-scale magnitude. _It's like a plague that you can't catch, one that just happens to you._

"I'm sorry for your lost, Serena," Mina reached over the table and grabbed my hand. I gave her a short smile.

"It was a long time ago. I've dealt with it." _Not really but I'm not telling them that._ "But yes, my father had silver hair when he was alive so I never questioned my hair being the color that it is. And for the birth? Babies' hair always looks different when they're born."

"That _is_ true, Shiloh," Raye added.

"How deadly is silver?" I asked, changing the subject.

Raye tilted her shoulders, "In the body, massive repercussions and long recover time, even more so if the injury is too close to an internal organ. In the heart? Almost immediate death."

Shiloh pointed his fork at me, "But as I've heard it it's not as immediate as those suffering from the poison. Death is certain but it lingers through the body causing one of the worst contortions our people have documented."

I nodded along, "Alright and what if it's worn?"

Shiloh narrowed his eyes, "Like jewelry? It doesn't cause any irritation to the skin but I wouldn't keep it too close, if you know what I mean. It's like walking around with a grenade and it could be used against you."

"How could a small bracelet be used against me?"

"You have a mouth and throat, Serena," Shiloh didn't look up from his food and I couldn't tell if he was angry that I had so many questions or if he thought I was stupid. "I need some air," Shiloh pushed from his place at the table and made his way out the door.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Raye took another bite of food, "He's just worried about you. Between your lack of knowledge regarding your own safety and acceptance of vampires as friends, he probably thinks you're going to get killed. Don't worry though, I also have vampire friends."

"Who?"

"Ami Mizuno. She's two-hundred and sixty-five years old and although we get along my brother despises her." I wanted to ask more from Raye but was worried that I would continue to make myself look like a fool. It wasn't really my fault that I was ignorant to my heritage and part of me wanted to tell them off. "We can train you, you know?" This perked me up. "My parents rent out this secluded cottage in the forest to vacationers. I bet they'll be staying there when they arrive. I could teach you more about being a wolf if you would like."

 _Finally!_ I was relieved to be getting somewhere with the whole werewolf thing. If I had known about Raye's secret before I might have been able to dodge Shiloh's odd behavior. "I would love that. Shiloh won't be joining us, will he?"

Raye laughed, "Gosh, I wish he could have heard you say that!" I grimaced. "It's owned by our family so he'll likely be there. Despite his actions he really is only trying to help you."

"I don't see how he could care a damn about me."

"Well, you are hanging out with an Elder Vampire."

"And what does that matter? You have Ami."

"Ami's a friend. How long have you known this Darien?" I didn't answer her and how could I? We hadn't known each that long but still it didn't seem to matter. I felt drawn to him in a weird way and knew he felt similar feelings for me. "Just exercise caution for now, alright? We'll teach you everything we know about fighting, our history and origin, anything you want to know. Then, after that, you can start making decisions for battle."

Shiloh didn't show up till later that evening. By that point and time I had talked with Raye a little more about the origin of my ancestors while Mina studied Darien's prophecy. I had finished my shower when I heard the front door click and crouched down to listen to him speak with Raye.

"Why were you out for so long?"

"I was keeping tabs on that Elder."

"You know, Serena says he was a prince once."

"Heh, in a previous life maybe but now he's a walking disease."

"Shi, I mean he was the prince for their royalty. That means he has more pull. If we can convince him to side with us—."

"That _leech_ will never side with us, Raye. And if he was ousted then I doubt he has anything to persuade them with. Besides, the war may have halted but it was never finished. They will never stop until we make them stop."

"You speak as if the entire race is our enemy."

"I know that you would like to think differently but it's written in our blood; for them, it's the blood that they steal."

"But not all of them kill, Shi!"

"Raye, get it through your brain; _we_ are not friends with vampires. It's not how things are supposed to be." There was a pause before Raye responded.

"I'm done with this conversation."

I clenched the towel to my chest and backed away to the room I shared with Mina. When I closed the door she looked up from the book and smiled. "Took you long enough."

"I was eavesdropping, actually." I clicked the lock and motioned for Mina to advert her eyes. When she wouldn't I narrowed my eyes, "I'm not ready to just strip naked in front of you, Mina."

"Fine," she shut her eyes and I swiftly changed into one of the extra outfits I packed the previous night, "We need to talk. There's something about this document you should know."

"What's that?" Mina motioned for me to join her on the small bed.

"Do you see this symbol in the corner?" I followed her hand to a very small symbol in the bottom-right of the page. It was so insignificant that I wasn't surprised that I hadn't given it a second glance before. "That's the emblem of my family." I eyed Mina but allowed her to continue, "I think this was written by one of my ancestors."

"Have you read anything about a prophecy like this?"

"Nope, never. But a lot of my family's origin and deep history has been lost. For the longest time the secrets and spells we knew had to be passed orally."

"Alright, well, have you translated the prophecy? What does it say?"

"It would seem that your hunch was correct, the prophecy was misinterpreted but that's because it's not Latin. This language is similar but some of the words are different. It does say that a woman meeting your description, so far as we know, is supposed to join with the first creation of the Elder Vampires to bring a peace to the vampire race but there's no mention of a Queen. I think they confused that word with matriarch."

"That sounds like a Queen."

"More specifically a woman or even group of women who rule over a kingdom with the total power that's more commonly associated with men. Think of it as 'the man of the house' but being first and foremost a role for women."

"I guess I can see the similarities and differences. Does this mean that I'm _not_ destined to marry Darien?"

"Luckily enough, yes." My heart dropped down and I tried to prevent emotion for showcasing on my face. Thoughts of our kiss formed in my mind again. "This is a good thing, Serena. Now we can focus on learning more about who you are while this war gets started. I'm no seer but I think that you are indeed the woman mentioned in this old vampire prophecy but the term of peace could be used for death; like 'rest in peace.' I think it means that you are supposed to kill Darien. Maybe he's meant to be the first death or perhaps even the last, to finish the vampire race off."

 _No, it can't be._ "You don't really think we can determine that right now, do you?"

"You—you're not considering saving him, are you? You heard Shiloh and although I think that guy needs to be taken down a few notches, he is right; vampires are blood seekers. As soon as Darien finds out that you are not an ally he won't hesitate to kill you."

"Well, if you felt threatened wouldn't you be on the offensive?"

"Defensive? Yes. Offensive? Depends on if I think waiting around will mean certain death."

"I don't think Darien will attack me."

"Why's that?" My face turned red and I watched as Mina's eyes widened to a full blue. "Don't tell me you two are involved. Have you kissed him? Slept with him?"

"What? No, no we didn't sleep together and he didn't _kiss_ me," I pursed my lips. "Okay, so he did but it was so casual. I think the conversation just called for it."

"What kind of conversation calls for a simple, no-strings-attached kiss?"

"Um, he was sharing something personal with me. I don't want to overshare his private life though."

"Serena, you know that you can't see him again, right? This is too dangerous and I'm sworn to protect you. Until we can figure out this strange, convoluted puzzle I think it's best that we only involve Darien when he has information that we desperately need."

I didn't take the time to think about it. Time like that surely would have told Mina that I was lying and there would be no good in causing her to not trust me. "I know what I have to do," I replied simply.

 _But I don't know if I can stay away from him._


End file.
